Sonic Evolution
by Captain Gamer
Summary: When a new team begins collecting Chaos Emeralds and taking out anybody who would stand in their way, it is up to the remaining heroes to team up and combat this threat!
1. U Chaos Controlled

**Sonic Evolution**

**Unity Story**

**Chapter 1: Chaos Controlled**

The night sky in Emerald Town was a majestic one. Not a cloud in the sky, so that the stars could shine bright. Only two things pierced the night sky's perfection. One was the silhouette of a familiar bat, and two was the whirring of several cameras.

At the controls to the camera's was Miles "Tails" Prower, working on an invention that could track down Chaos Emeralds if needed. An alarm sounded throughout Tails's lab, causing him to fall out of his chair comically. He picked a set of blueprints off his head and looked at his cameras. There she was, the night vision aspect of the cameras exposing her in all her sly glory. Tails knew she was up to no good.

Tails wheeled over to another control panel and pushed a red button. There was a sound of a phone ringing and eventually of picking up.

"Hello?" Said a gruff voice from the control panel.

"Knuckles!" Tails said, trying to add urgency into his voice.

"Huh? Oh, Tails. What is it? Don't you know what time it is?

"Yeah…" Tails muttered, Knuckles sounded angry, but that wouldn't stop tails from continuing, "this is important! My cameras saw Rouge, and it looks like she's up to no good!"

That got the echidna's attention, "That bat? Where was she headed?"

"Um…" Tails checked the cameras as they played back, "I think the museum in Station Square."

"That place is only a stone's throw from where you are! What is she doing there?"

"Well… I can't confirm anything, but I think that museum houses one of the Chaos Emeralds."

"Urghh, that crazy woman! What is she going to do with that?"

"We can stop her if we take the Tornado!"

"Okay… is Sonic coming?" Knuckles asked, background noise indicating he was getting ready for action.

"Not really… he went out running a couple of days ago."

"That's just great," Knuckles muttered, his voice hinting at the grin he currently had, "he could be all the way on the other side of the world right now. Doesn't matter, though. We two and stop her on our own!"

"What about the time when she took Emerl and she beat all three of us?"

"Ancient history!" Knuckles shouted, not wanting to remember that awful time, "Just get here, and quickly!"

"Okay, okay! … Hey Knuckles."

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you glad now that I gave you that cell phone so we could communicate more easily?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…" Knuckles muttered, hanging up. He had apparently been against it at an earlier time.

-

The Tornado landed a distance from the museum, for fear of setting off alarms. Swiftly, the silhouettes of the fox and the echidna were seen stalking toward the museum.

"That's weird." Tails said suddenly.

"What's weird?" Knuckles asked.

"Normally, this place would be filled with security lasers and stuff like that… but I see none of it now."

"Huh… Rouge must have disabled the security by now. We probably don't have much time!"

"Let's go!" Tails proclaimed as the two of them charged forward into the defenseless museum.

It was a straightforward path until an opened vault was reached. Inside, the Chaos Emerald shined brightly.

"It's safe…" Knuckles sighed in relief.

"If somebody opened the vault, why didn't they take the Emerald? It's the only thing the vault contains." Tails wondered.

"Hey… yeah…" Knuckles realized as they walked into the vault.

From the opposite side of the vault another entrance could be seen. Coming through that entrance was none other than Rouge the bat. Now that she wasn't a silhouette, she could be seen more clearly. She had changed her look, for now her eye shadow was now a dark emerald color and she opted to wear a black tank top with a pink unzipped jacket. Her legs were adorned with a metallic gray jumpsuit-style pair of pants that hugged her hips. Her boots were a dark purple with a large white stripe vertically and white on the top and white on the soles.

"What are you two doing here!" Rouge demanded after giving a yelp at seeing them there.

Knuckles struck a finger out toward Rouge, "We're here to keep you from stealing this Chaos Emerald, that's what we're doing!"

Rouge growled, then walked toward Knuckles, "How did you know I was coming?"

"Tails saw you on camera!"

At this, Tails waved sheepishly.

"Well," Rouge started, "you will just have to turn back, because this Emerald is my ticket to getting yours!"

"The Master Emerald?" Knuckles asked, "Dream on!"

"Uh… guys." Tails said suddenly.

"Humph, I used to dream, but now it will become reality!" Rouge continued, disregarding Tails.

"Guys…!" Tails said again, with more urgency.

"The only reality is you giving up!" Knuckles responded to Rouge.

"Knuckles! Rouge!" Tails cried in a whiny voice.

"WHAT!" Both the echidna and the bat shouted at the same time.

"The Chaos Emerald is gone!" Tails shouted, pointing towards where the Emerald used to be. Sure enough, it was only an empty pedestal now.

There was a gasp, then both Knuckles and Rouge shouted, "Where did you put it!" then after a pause, "What do you mean where did I put it!" Then again, "I don't have it!"

"He does!" Tails said, not too busy arguing to notice something.

All three looked and beheld a new sight. A figure held the previously unclaimed Emerald. He turned around and immediately one could tell he was a Raccoon. He had the same typical body with thin arms and legs, red shoes, white gloves, brown fur all over, and a bushy muzzle. His head was decorated with a black strip over the eyes and round Raccoon ears. A big Raccoon tail grazed the ground.

"Oops, busted." He said coolly, his voice was calm and calculating and somewhat collected.

"All right!" Rouge said immediately after, "Who are you and what are you doing with MY Emerald?"

"YOUR Emerald?" Knuckles faintly echoed.

"Heh," The Raccoon chuckled, then stood upright, looking intimidating, "my name is Bandit, and per my name, I am the greatest thief in the world. What I plan to use this Chaos Emerald for is none of your business."

"You can't just take an Emerald and use it for what you please!" Tails pleaded.

"EXCUSE me!" Rouge suddenly barked, Bandit's previous comment having finally registered, "Did you just call yourself the greatest thief in the world! That title is reserved for me!"

"This is neither the ti-" Knuckles started, but Rouge interrupted.

"My pride as a master thief is on the line, Knucklehead," She cut in, "I'm sure you know a thing or two about honor."

"But…!" Knuckles started, but Tails pulled him aside.

"This could be perfect!" Tails whispered, "When they fight, one of them will be knocked out and we could take the remaining person on or they'll both get tired out!"

"Oh…" Knuckles muttered, "Never thought of that."

He secretly did not like the though of using those two in such a way, but he supposed it was the only real way to get this done.

Rouge did not pay attention to them as she and Bandit got into position to have a battle. Rouge put on a game face, but Bandit merely grinned. He was either very confident or had something up his sleeve.

Surprisingly, Bandit was the one to make the first move. He leapt over the pedestal and whipped forward with his tail. Rouge jumped out of the way, spread her wings, and then came down on where Bandit landed. It was Bandit's turn to jump out of the way as Rouge's foot hit the tiled floor hard. Bandit continued to jump back at Rouge floated forward and threw kick after kick after kick in attempt to hit him. Finally, Bandit stopped, then launched forward and aimed his fist for Rouge's face. She sidestepped and used the opportunity to sweep Bandit's legs, tripping him. Bandit used his tail to keep from falling, then sprung off the ground, successfully planting his fist into Rouge's stomach. Rouge made an odd open-mouthed moan of pain, her eyes shooting wide open.

Rouge kneeled to the ground and Bandit prepared to lay his tail on her head when she back-flipped out of the way and flew into the shadows. Bandit tried to see where she was, but it proved difficult. Rogue leapt out from behind him and laid a kick hard onto his back. Bandit dove forward and landed on his hands. Rouge attempted to crush him into the ground with her foot, but he had rolled out of the way. Bandit responded with a flurry of punches. Some Rouge dodged, some she blocked with her arms. Eventually she saw an opening and made a really high kick, connecting with Bandit's chin and making him fall backwards.

Bandit, like last time, fall back on his tail and propelled himself forward. Rouge had seen it coming and spun around him and kicked, once in the back, then again in the chest. This time Bandit had fallen on the ground. It seemed it was over when Bandit painfully picked himself up and looked Rouge over, acknowledging her as an equal. Rouge, sensing the real end near, kicked forward again. Bandit had caught her leg. After a pause, Bandit twirled Rouge around and he remained spinning in the air until she landed nimbly on her feet. She then gave a whimper and kneeled on the leg Bandit had spun. It was twisted.

Rouge looked up to barely get hit with Bandit's right fist. A thin ribbon of blood was sprayed from her nose as she stumbled back and Bandit continued to smash her across the face with his left, prompting blood to come out the other side. Knuckled and Tails could barely stand to watch as Bandit next hit Rouge with an uppercut to the jaw. Before Rouge could regain her composure, Bandit had whipped forward with his tail, sending Rouge into the wall. She practically bounced off the wall, leaving a deep dent and flying high into the air. Bandit pursued her into the air where, with both his fists and his tail, he dunked her downward. Rouge hit the floor with a loud smash, making another deep dent and cracking the floor considerably. Some tiles flew into the air to illustrate how hard she had been hit.

Bandit landed from his dunk and looked at Rouge in her crater, breathing heavily and giving involuntary whimpers, her impeccable complexion ruined by the blood she had shed and her fur on her head messed up like never seen before. Bandit panted from effort for a bit, and then slowly took out the Emerald.

"Now to finish you off."

Knuckles snapped, "Look at what you did to her! It's enough that you defeated her and possibly broke every bone in her body, but I'm not standing by while a person dies under my watch!"

"Huh," Bandit muttered, "I thought her didn't like her very much."

"I don't!" Knuckles said, a bit weakly, "B-but not so much so that I think she deserves this fate! Just let her live!"

"Shall I take the Emerald as payment for her life?" Bandit asked.

Knuckles hadn't expected that, but still came up with the answer right away, "No way! C'mon Tails, let's get this guy!"

"Right!" Tails shouted as he and Knuckles ran over to where Bandit stood.

"This will just break your heart." Bandit muttered, then held out the Emerald, "Chaos Mirage!"

For a brief moment, Bandit became a brown blur as he shot past Tails and Knuckles. Both of them stopped and turned around.

"What was the supposed to do?" Knuckles asked, "I think you… mis…"

Knuckled couldn't finish his sentence as he and Tails both lost consciousness and fell to the floor.

"Nothing can defeat the power of Chaos." Bandit lectured, and then looked around for Rouge.

He looked into the crater that her body had created and saw nothing. He looked closer and noticed that a trail of blood droplets lead from the crater, out the vault, and toward an open window. All the others were closed.

"I guess it's only fair you live," He said to the escaped Rouge, "I did let the other two live, after all."

Bandit walked over to the entrance of the vault, then took out a communication device and spoke into it, "Turn the security lasers back on."

In a moment, the lasers were turned back on and Bandit walked over to one of them and let his tail fall on it. Immediately the vault was bathed in a red light and alarms went off.

"How clumsy of me." Bandit said, then chuckled to the two crumpled figures on the floor, "Say 'Hi' to the police for me. Chaos Control!"

In a flash, Bandit was gone.

In about ten minutes, Station Square's finest swarmed into the vault. They immediately noticed the Chaos Emerald was gone. After that, they noted the carnage, then finally the echidna and fox out cold on the floor. A policeman walked over to them and looked them over.

"All right boys… let's take them downtown for questioning." He paused and placed a hand on Knuckles's wrist, checked the pulse, then did the same for Tails, "Cancel that… we have to get these two to the hospital… as soon as possible!"

-

Bandit walked through the crowded Station Square Main Street sidewalk. By now, "furry integration," as it was called, was in full effect; so nobody gave him any odd looks. He grinned. Not bad for a day's work, he had collected a Chaos Emerald and taken out the echidna and the fox.

Of course, the real cause for celebration would be when a certain blue hedgehog was taken out of the picture. Only then will things get exponentially easier.


	2. U Hedgehog Down

**Sonic Evolution**

**Unity Story**

**Chapter 2: Hedgehog Down**

The roads in the countryside, for most of the time, are quiet. Only a truck, coming down slowly, could break it…

That and the occasional supersonic hedgehog.

Making sure to keep off the road, Sonic took a glance over at the mountains in the distance. It was an awe-inspiring sight. He loved beautiful scenery. He didn't care where he was, as long as the view was fantastic, he was in hedgehog heaven. He only head his footsteps and the occasional car, so when his stomach grumbled, he could well hear it.

Still running, he looked to his stomach, then back up and said to no one in particular, "Time to take a rest stop!"

Sonic ran down some ways more and eventually came to see a gas station restaurant in the distance. He grinned. Maybe he would down a few plates of chili, or whatever they had there, rest for a minute or two, then continue to blast through with sonic speed. He ran for the door, and then hit his heels dug into the ground, causing him to make a screeching noise and eventually come to a stop. From there he calmly walked into the door of the restaurant.

The restaurant was a bit fancier than some he had been to before, carpeted floors, pictures on the wall, rolled up curtains revealing the light through the window, and polished, clean tables. Nothing like eating fancy! Sonic walked into the restaurant and saw all the waiters and waitresses busy with other orders. Sonic wasn't one to wait, so he opted for a seat next to a television hanging from a wall. Agh, the news. Why the news? Sonic knew better than to switch the channel, so he propped his feet on the table and watched, bored before he heard the first word.

"This just in…" The anchorman said, taking some pieces of paper from a hand that stretched onscreen, "There has been a break-in at the Station Square museum, owned by the old millionaire Mr. Richmond."

Sonic's eye opened. Station Square? Oh well, what's done is done. He was too far away from Station Square to do anything, anyway. Heh, he thought, "Richmond…" Nice name.

"However, the break-in itself was not the most interesting thing about the scene…"

Sonic's other eye opened. It was probably going to be something anti-climactic, like nothing was stolen or something.

"… Two members of the alleged 'Sonic Heroes' were found at the scene, out cold and, after an hour, proclaimed to be in a comatose state."

Sonic's eyes came wide open as, with a swift motion, his feet were planted firmly on the ground, his hands on the table. He was listening intently.

"Can I take your order, sir?"

"No!" Sonic snapped at the waitress, pale, then looked to her shocked expression, "N-no… I'm still thinking."

The report continued, "The scene here, as this picture indicated, seemed to have classic signs of a struggle. The hardest impact seemed to be scored where this crater was. There is a blood trail leading from this and is currently being tested for any identity. The popular theory is that they were there to prevent the break-in from happening…"

Sonic looked and saw in the picture, Tails and Knuckles sprawled about the ground. They seemed more asleep than out cold. Knuckles had his usual borderline angry face and Tails looked so peaceful. Sonic assumed that before the perpetrator had left, Knuckles had slammed him into the ground hard enough to make that crater. At least he had a taste of the pain he so richly deserved. Seeing Tails and Knuckles on the ground… it made Sonic shake with fury. What heartless monster, or monsters, now that he thought of it, could have been instrumental in any way of this… this heinous act? Sonic's breathing was loud, his teeth bared and his eyes burning with an emerald fire of righteous fury.

Without even thinking about food a second time, Sonic ran, as the crow flies, out the door, causing the carpet to be ripped up and tables and chairs to fly helter-skelter. He had been chased by trucks and large wheels, he had outrun many explosions, he had escaped from a detonating island in eight minutes, he had even outrun a hedgehog faster than him to reach the end of the space colony ARK's cannon… in comparison to now, Sonic had never before run faster in his entire life.

-

Like a sonic boom, Sonic sped through the halls of the Station Square hospital, ending up at the "furry wing." Though offensive, he knew the sign indicated his friends were there. He ran into the room and rammed the door open, actually learning his manners in time and trying not to knock it off its hinges. Sonic walked to where Tails and Knuckles laid in separate beds and looked at them, the same as in the picture on the news report.

"C'mon, guys! Get up!" Sonic shouted, nudging Tails, and then Knuckles. He didn't care if they got angry. He would have loved to be worried sick for no reason. He would be grateful that they were just alive. However, they did not awake, or seem to make any effort to. Sonic's shaking them became very violent and he started to contemplate other means of waking them up when a calm voice came from behind him.

"We've tried everything, Sonic. They won't budge."

Sonic turned around to see a doctor looking very solemn, understanding that Sonic was in a very hard time.

"We were expecting you… sit down."

"No, thanks. I'm more the standing kind of guy."

The doctor sighed, "We don't know what's wrong with them, Sonic. We tested them and they have no exterior wounds. We can only assume some supernatural force is at work, here."

Sonic looked from the doctor, to Tails and Knuckles, then back to the doctor, then repeated the process many, many times. This was obviously taking its toll on the blue hedgehog.

"Who…" Sonic gasped, breathing very hard, the rage in his eyes renewed, "Who… who… who…"

"… Did this?" The doctor finished.

Sonic nodded gingerly.

"We may know shortly." The doctor said, "You heard there was blood at the sight. We may not know, but it may be the blood of whoever was else was at the break-in. It's a long shot, but it also may be who did this to those two."

Sonic nodded once again, looking back at his friends. His mind raced. Nothing of this sort had ever happened before. He never thought it would happen. Maybe to other people, but the popular saying goes that "you are 'other people' to other people."

Another doctor walked into the room with a folder. He handed it to the first doctor, and after a "thank you" was given, the second doctor left. Sonic watched as the remaining doctor opened the folder, then furrowed his brow. He looked to Sonic, and then gently held the folder out. They both knew what it contained.

Sonic breathed in and out slowly, trying to contain himself. He then took the folder. He opened the folder.

Rouge the bat.

Sonic stared in disbelief. Less out of that she would do such a thing, but more doubting she had the capability to. Then again, she would do anything for those jewels of hers. Sonic clutched the folder. Rouge would pay, maybe with her life. He didn't know for sure yet. All he knew that Rouge would soon know what it meant to mess with his friends.

"Thank you, doctor." He said frailly, and then gave the folder back. As soon as the doctor took the folder, Sonic dashed out of the room, taking no care for what he ran into or ripped from its hinges or ripped from the floor.

-

Amy Rose sat on her bed, reading a magazine when a loud and impatient knock echoed throughout her room. She looked up with a start, putting the magazine down. Who could that be? She got up off the bed while the knock persisted.

"I'm coming!" She tried to shout over the knock.

She put her hand over on the doorknob, paused as the knocking stopped, then opened the door. For a second, she was alarmed. Sonic stood there, looking as if ready to murder her. She eventually came to her senses and realized that her idol and future husband had come to HER, for a change.

"Sonic!" She squealed happily, "What a pleasant surprise!"

"I'm not staying long." Sonic said quickly and with a monotone.

Amy was taken back by this. She watched as he walked into the center of her room and stood there, looking at her.

"You've heard about Tails and Knuckles in the news, right?" Sonic said way too calmly.

"Oh…" Amy muttered, slightly disappointed that he did not come to ask her out, rather to discuss other matters, but her face fell more due to the unfortunate circumstances that befell Tails and Knuckles. She lifted a hand to her mouth and looked truthfully sorry, "It truly is awful… what happened to them."

"Yeah, and the tests for the blood found at the scene have come in. It was Rouge's."

"Rouge? You mean that thieving bat?" Amy pounded a fist into her palm, "Then I say it's time to pay her a visit!"

"I've tried," Sonic muttered, "she wasn't in 'Club Rouge' or anywhere in Night Babylon. Since you were closest, I thought I'd ask you if you saw Rouge recently."

"Ahh, no. Can't say I have."

"Okay, then. See ya."

Sonic made to leave when Amy shouted, "Wait!"

"Yeah?" Sonic grunted, looking back.

"I think we ought to go out for a while."

"AMY THIS IS NOT THE TIME!" Sonic shouted.

Amy reeled back a bit, but then leaned forward again, "YOU LOWER YOUR VOICE, MISTER!" She howled, making Sonic shrink back this time, "I GRACIOUSLY ACCEPT YOU INTO MY HOME AND ALL YOU DO IS TREAT ME RUDELY AND SHOUT AT ME! I KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO TAILS AND KNUCKLES IS HORRIBLE, BUT THE WAY YOU ARE GOING AT THINGS NOW, YOU'LL NEVER GET ANYTHING DONE!"

There was an awkward silence in which both hedgehogs stood there, facing each other, panting. It seemed to last for hours until finally Sonic sat down and put his face in his hands.

"Sonic?" Amy asked, her voice slightly hoarse from all that yelling.

"I'm sorry, Amy." Sonic said softly, "I've just never taken such a loss before. I just keep thinking about how if I were there, things would have ended up differently."

"What happened, happened, Sonic. I'm sorry to tell you that, but it's the truth."

Sonic sighed, and then nodded.

"Besides…" Amy said, with her arms folded and head tilted to the side, "I wasn't asking you out on a date. You looked really stressed and maybe if you just went out, had something to eat, and talked to somebody like a civilized person, you'll feel better, because this isn't the Sonic I know and love."

Sonic looked to Amy and didn't know if she was using the common saying, or expressing her fondness. For the sake of the moment, he decided on the former. At that moment, he stomach growled something fierce. He had completely forgotten that he hadn't anything to eat, yet.

"I guess I'll take up on that offer." Sonic said, smiling with resignation, feeling things coming back to normal.

"Great!" Amy chirped, dashing off toward her dresser, "Let me just get a few things together!"

Yup, back to normal, all right.

-

The two hedgehogs had crossed over a slight way to Emerald Town, where they found a burger place and sat to eat. Surprisingly enough, Amy wasn't constantly making advances and begging Sonic to marry her. He actually found himself quite comfortable around her. Was he really that much of a wreck? Now back to the classic attitude, he wondered how he had allowed himself to get so worked up before. He only thanked his lucky stars that Amy had been so quick to anger herself.

"Feeling better, Sonic?" Amy asked after putting her menu down.

"Yeah, much… Thanks, Amy." Sonic said, having already figured out what he was going to order.

"Aww, don't mention it!" Amy said, only out of courtesy. She secretly wished she could harbor this favor over his head until they were wed.

After ordering and eating for a bit, they had started up the conversation again.

"Where do you think Rouge could be?" Sonic had asked.

Amy looked up, slightly disappointed that he'd discuss business, "I don't know. I bet she went into hiding or something, knowing you'd come after her."

"Maybe…" Sonic said, then after thinking, "or maybe she just went to any old place where she could be safe. She was bleeding, after all."

Amy giggled, "This sounds more like a job for a detective than a pair of hedgehogs!"

That made Sonic's face snap up, "Of course! Amy, you're a genius!"

"I am?" My asked, then adopted a pose, "Of course! It's an aspect you look for in a wife, right?"

Sonic gave her a look that told her that she just knocked herself down a peg.

"I meant that we CAN have detectives on our side. More specifically the Chaotix detective agency! Maybe they'd do us a favor as friends."

"Oh, those guys!" Amy said, finally getting it.

-

"I think this is where they live." Sonic said after he and Amy trekked over to an apartment complex.

Sonic walked over to the door of the agency and knocked. There was no answer. He and Amy exchanged glances, and then Sonic knocked on the door again. He was about to try a third time when Amy gasped.

"Sonic, look!"

She bent over to pick up a paper that apparently had fallen from the door.

"What is it?"

"It's…" Amy started, then scanned the paper and gasped again, "an eviction notice!"

"Eviction…! Team Chaotix was evicted!"

"I guess so." Amy muttered, "I thought those three would always be able to at least scrape by with enough to pay the rent!"

"Wow… that's too bad! I wonder where they are now."

"I have no idea…"

-

Sonic and Amy found themselves at Emerald Beach trying to come up with a plan of some sort.

Sonic sighed, "Could you excuse me for one second? I have to blow off some steam."

"Oh… go ahead." Amy nodded.

Sonic leapt into the body of the beach, running, jumping, performing homing attacks into the air, grinding handlebars, and even practicing his hand-to-hand skills. Amy watched him, entranced. THIS was the type of stuff that drove her wild for the blue hedgehog, all his skills that help him in saving the world time and time again.

"Well, if it isn't Sonic the Hedgehog…" Said a voice from behind Amy. A female voice. Amy turned around to see who had said that.

An approaching figure was apparently a leopard. She was yellow with black spots, first of all. The fur on the top of her head was made so it looked like she had long hair. Her eyes were a complimentary yellow with feline slits for irises, topped by eyelids adorned in red eye shadow. She wore a low-neck white t-shirt, covering up a busty chest, and short jeans. Her shoes were red with white spots, reminiscent of the pattern all over her body. A long leopard tail swished back and forth in constant interest.

This figure walked parallel with Amy, still looking at Sonic as he, unawares, kept training. Amy looked at how she looked with as much adoration as she had, and walked over.

"Don't get too attached, he's MY future husband."

"Hmm?" Leopard looked to Amy, and then gave a short chuckle, "Miss Rose, don't think I can tell the ins and outs of the relationship you have with Sonic… or rather the lack thereof."

They'd been on the news plenty of times; of course she'd know their names. However, Amy was a bit confused by her "lack thereof" comment.

"Just what do you mean by that?"

"Oh come now!" The leopard said, sweeping her arms, "I suppose you are as blind as your devotion! I know it's nice when men play 'hard-to-get,' but don't you think Sonic's been 'playing' for entirely too long now?"

"He wants to take it slow!" Amy responded, her usual rationale.

"When has 'slow' ever been Sonic's style?"

Amy was caught off-guard by that. Sure, Sonic can be unpredictable, but one thing he was not was slow. Then why was he holding back his love for her… unless there was no love to hold back?

Amy shook her head, "Wait a second! I know what you are doing! You are trying to mess me up so YOU can move in on my hedgehog! Just who do you think you are!"

"Sheena. Sheena the Leopard. And I'm not trying to 'move in' on anybody, I'm merely stating the facts you so desperately elude."

"The only fact is that you're about to get a face-full of my hammer!" Amy shouted as she took off in a sprint.

"Uh-oh." Sheena muttered, then dashed away from Amy.

Amy watched where Sheena ran and made chase. Sheena was fast. Well of course… she was a leopard. Speed was a defining characteristic. Still, nothing can outperform a woman hedgehog scorned. Amy tried her hardest to keep up.

Sure enough, the gap between them started to close. Maybe Sheena slowed down or Amy sped up, but soon they would be parallel. Amy got ready to whip out her Piko Piko hammer at that time.

Suddenly Sheena stopped running. Amy didn't know why, but wouldn't waste this opportunity. She leapt and swung her hammer toward where Sheena stood. "Stood" in the past tense, for now Sheena was a couple feet to the right.

"You can dodge!" Amy cried in surprise, her exclamation meaning she recognized that Sheena could dodge WELL.

"That's because I don't want to fight you!" Sheena insisted.

"Well, it's the only way you're going to get close to Sonic, for he'll never fall for you when you dress like some kind of desperate person!"

Sheena's eyes widened, "Just what do you mean by that?"

Amy smirked, "Come ON. You don't think that you dress a bit… lightly?"

"I dress in what's comfortable!"

"Sure you do."

"You… you're treading on thin ice, sister!"

"Well, then. It's about time I shattered that ice and fell through… you floozy."

"F-FLOOZY!" Sheena shouted back, completely taken back by that.

"That's right. You insult what's sacred to me, I insult right back."

"Fine, then! But only because you insisted so much!" Sheena walked toward Amy a bit, then stopped as she bore her claws, making them extend out.

Amy gulped. This cat had claws. With a cross between a battle cry and a light leopard roar, Sheena pounced toward Amy. Amy yelped and rolled out of the way. She then reclaimed her hammer and swung away. Sheena back flipped into a wall, landed on it with her feet, then propelled herself at Amy in a homing attack. She rammed Amy with her shoulder and Amy flew slightly, landing on her back.

"When could you do THAT?" Amy asked, picking herself up.

"I could always do that. Beginning to realize that you've bitten off more than you can chew? We can just stop right now, as equals, with no hard feelings."

"No way! I think I just might have some fun here!"

Sheena laughed softly, "All right!"

Sheena ran at Amy and Amy readied herself. At the last second, Amy jumped over Sheena and performed her own homing attack. Sheena tried to stop in time, but got Amy's homing attack in the back. Sheena fell on her stomach, but got right back up again. She brushed her hair back and came again. Amy waited, but Sheena had jumped up first. Amy had to perform a homing attack just to keep from getting hit. They both landed on the ground.

Sheena then dashed off. Amy called to wait up, and then ran after. She saw Sheena jump onto a handrail and grind down. It was most certainly a challenge. Amy took the opposite handrail. The rail went down quite a way and at the end the rails formed two half-circles that, at the end, would make them both end up meeting. They raced down the rails, Amy actually catching up with Sheena, and then they came to the ends of the rails and prepared to jump off. Amy got her hammer ready while Sheena bore her claws. They came to the ends of their rails and leapt, ready to strike.

"HOLD IT!"

Suddenly, none other than Sonic leapt up between them, shoving his gloved hands into the girls' faces. The three of them landed abruptly.

"What's going on here!"

"She started it!" Both girls shouted, pointed past Sonic to the other.

"It doesn't matter who started it. What happened?"

Amy spoke up first, "She was insulting me, Sonic!"

"Yeah!" Sheena said with doubt, "I merely told her that you weren't interested in her and she went berserk on me!"

Sonic sighed, "Well, I'm sorry for what happened."

"You don't need to apologize!" Amy said.

"He was talking to me." Sheena stated, which was true. Sonic was facing Sheena, "Oh, we haven't been introduced. I am Sheena the Leopard."

"Nice to meet you, Sheena." Sonic said, "I'm Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog."

"I'm sure there's not a soul on the planet who hasn't heard that name already." Sheena said with a smirk.

"I guess you're right on that account."

"Sonic?" Amy asked, her eyes pleading. Sonic looked to her, "It's not true, is it? That you don't like me at all… that I'm only an annoyance."

Sonic's head reeled. Normally he would have just agreed, but he looked into her eyes and saw that she already suspected the worse. Sonic started thinking that no way did he LOVE her, but DISLIKE her? Maybe she got annoying some times, but not all of the time. Plus, she had been good recently. He wondered what to say when Amy's eyes suddenly went wide with fear.

"SONIC, LOOK OUT!"

Amy ran forward and shoved Sonic on to the ground. Sonic was about to demand an explanation when he saw the explanation play out before him. A white wind, more like a concentrated tornado, came from a direction and headed to where Sonic used to be and where Amy now was. Time seemed to slow down as the wind came, then swept over Amy. Sheena gasped deeply, her hand flew over her heart. Sonic could only stare, wide-eyed and mouth hanging open, as the wind faded and Amy flew into the air and fell.

"NO!" Sonic shouted and ran. He stopped where Amy would have fallen and caught her.

"Sonic…" Amy muttered, a sad smile on her lips, "Please don't get angry again."

Amy then shuddered and lost consciousness.

"Amy…! AMY!" Sonic shouted, but it was no use. She had been taken away just like Tails and Knuckles had and the way to get all of them back was uncertain.

"There!" Sheena shouted and pointed in a direction.

There, in the air, was a hawk. He kept in the air by constantly flapping his wings, which were not the same as his arms, which were both held out after launching that wind. His body, arms, wings, and head were covered in brown feathers. White feathers made up a crest on his chest. His legs were yellow and ended in red shoes. His eyes were a striking purple with the piercing gaze of a normal hawk. He looked as if he had the typical muzzle, but at the nose, the color turns to yellow and it is hard and hooked, like a beak.

"Well, darn. I missed." He said to himself.

"HEY! Just who are you and what did you do that for!" Sonic shouted upward

The hawk looked down, "I am Talon the Hawk… and you ought to be knocked out right now. I guess she'll do." Talon took out a beeping communicator, put it to his ear, hidden under the feathers, then put the communicator away, "It's your lucky day… I must return to where I've come from. You will be dealt with another day, Sonic." At that, Talon started to fly away

"Get back here!" Sonic shouted, then looked about ready to give chase when Sheena's hand kept Sonic's holding Amy.

"You take her to the hospital… I'll go after him."

"But-!"

"Look, when Amy wakes up, I think she'll find it more comforting that you took care of her in the end."

Sonic looked down at Amy, at her troubled expression, the last she wore before being hit. He had caused that expression on her. He felt obliged to at least take her to the hospital for causing that.

"Okay…"

"All right! Get moving!"

Sheena took off to where Talon had flown off. Sonic watched the retreating form before rushing off to the Station Square hospital where Amy could be with Tails and Knuckles. Sonic ran into the same room where his other friends were and laid Amy down into a bed, and then put the covers over her. He couldn't help but to think about her last words: "Please don't be angry." He sighed in a stressed-out way. Now he was back to square one.

-

Sonic beat a path back to Emerald Beach, his mind swimming. Now Amy was gone. How many more did he have to lose before this madness would end? He started to think about many things, but stuck when he thought about Sheena. How did she know that the white wind would put Amy in a comatose state? She must have known, for taking Amy to the hospital was her idea. If nothing were wrong with Amy, surely they just would have put her in a safe place and wait for her to come to. Before Sonic could continue on this train of thought, he saw Sheena herself, her fur ruffled up, her hair a mess, and some rips in her clothing.

"Woah, Sheena!" Sonic exclaimed upon seeing her, "You look like you had a run-in with a blender!"

"Worse…" Sheena grinned, "I had a run-in with Talon. As you can see, he did quite a number on me before getting away."

"That's too bad… but you did your best."

"Nothing broken, though." Sheena muttered as she sat down on one of the large, flat rocks that dotted the beach.

Finally, the idea that Amy was now gone caught up with Sonic. He exhaled heavily and sat next to Sheena.

"I blew it… AGAIN!" The final shout was when Sonic buried his face in his hands again. He would have gone furious again, but he wanted to respect Amy's final wishes.

"It's not your fault." Sheena said simply, not knowing any other way to put it.

"Yes it is!" Sonic said, "I could have ran out of way myself…. Pulled Amy out of the way… SOMEthing… .ANYthing would have done nicely besides sitting by and watching it happen! What's WRONG with me!"

Sheena bit her lip, not really knowing what to say. She only observed Sonic as he stared at the sand and breathed heavily with emotion and fatigue.

"Sonic…" Sheena said softly, and then put a hand on his shoulder. She let it rest there for a bit, then attempted a bold move as she pulled Sonic closer. Eventually she had him pulled into a comforting hug. While hugging him, she could have sworn she felt rhythmic shudders… like crying. She couldn't tell for sure.

She really couldn't blame him. All his life, he's had reason to be confident. All of a sudden, circumstances from out of his control cause everything to fall apart. She probably would have reacted in the same way.

Sonic's intense emotions had subsided… so why was he still in the embrace? He had to admit… Sheena was pretty soft and warm. Maybe it was part of being a leopard. Sheena didn't exactly hate it either. For having a wiry frame, Sonic was pretty strong. They both realized their own thoughts and seemed to fall back at the same time, blushing a bit.

"I'm… going to go now… Maybe I can find something that would help." Sheena muttered quickly.

"Uh… yeah… you go and do that." Sonic said in the same manner. Ever since that moment, he didn't trust himself with her.

When Sheena had vanished, Sonic turned toward and ran to the center of the beach. He had A LOT more steam to blow off.


	3. U The Unlikeliest Team

**Sonic Evolution**

**Unity Story**

**Chapter 3: The Unlikeliest Team**

Rain… what appropriate weather for the mood of a certain hedgehog as he runs and runs to calm himself down about the fate of his three friends.

Sonic was only keeping his cool for two reasons: First, he was keeping to heart the final words of Amy Rose before she slipped into a coma: "Please don't be mad," and second, he wasn't too proud of losing his cool so badly either. However, he still had his mission in mind: Find the ones who did this to Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. Maybe they would know how to wake them up.

So far, Sonic had two leads. One was a blood sample found at the scene of the crime. The test came out to reveal that it was the blood of Rouge the Bat. Second, Sonic himself met Amy's assailant, a hawk by the name of Talon. Whoever he'd encounter first, he'd try to get some answers from.

However, his clues had completely run dry. The Chaotix Detective Agency, or the former of such, will be no help, as they were evicted. They easily would have found some kind of trail to follow…

Sonic's head snapped up. A trail! Of course! At the scene of the museum robbery… there was a trail of blood that Rouge left behind. It was a long shot… but maybe that blood trail could help find her!

Sonic's running changed direction as he now made his way to the museum in Station Square. Once he got there, he went to the window that Rouge had apparently escaped from. Sure enough, red drops indicated Rouge's path. Sonic followed them. They were wide apart at first, but began to be close together at a certain point. Perhaps she had been flying, then had to land and continue on foot?

Sonic had to screech to a halt, for at one point, the blood trail just stopped. Maybe she simply stopped bleeding… or perhaps she found some way to stem it? Sonic sighed in frustration. The only way the blood trail would have helped him now was if Rouge wasn't far from where the trail ended.

Fortunately for Sonic, that was exactly the case.

-

Sonic looked and a few yards away was Rouge herself, sitting on the ground and leaning against a tree. She looked like a wreck. Ripped clothes, disheveled fur, smeared makeup, dried blood covering a significant amount of her body, and light marks of where bruises had been inflicted.

Normally, Sonic would have taken pity and maybe helped her out. However, given the circumstances, he felt like doing rather the opposite. He immediately betrayed Amy's parting words and his new creed all in his expression. She deserved all that she got and then some. She was going to give some answers… and if she wasn't compliant, he was going to beat it out of her.

Sonic stopped in front of Rouge. She was still sleeping soundly, looking quite pathetic. She was a criminal, yet she had the nerve to victimize herself so? Sonic watched, stewing more and more until he finally snapped and gave Rouge a hard slap across the face.

"OW!" Rouge shouted. She rubbed her cheek and looked up, "What was tha- Sonic?"

"GET UP!" Sonic shouted, grabbing one of Rouge's ears and pulling hard, yanking the yelling bat onto her feet.

"What are you doing!" Rouge demanded.

"What am I doing!" Sonic echoed, "I think the real question is what were YOU THINKING!"

"I have no clue what you're talking about!" Rogue shouted, trying to look annoyed.

Sonic's fist was faster than his mouth, for he had lashed out with his fist and smashed Rouge in the face. Rouge stood firm to that hit. A nose previously cured of bleeding now bled anew.

"Do NOT play dumb with me!" Sonic bellowed, eyes full of more righteous fury than every before, "Now what did you do to Tails and Knuckles and I will ONLY tolerate REAL ANSWERS!"

"Whatever happened to them, I didn't do it!" Rouge tried to top Sonic's volume, but her wounds kept her from making her voice too loud.

Sonic growled loudly and once again punched Rouge, this time in the stomach. Rouge completely nudged back from the hit and bumped into the tree.

"How DARE you LIE to me!" Sonic roared.

"Maybe if you'd stop being so irrational and listen for a bit-!"

"What do YOU know about being irrational! THAT line couldn't be more blurred for you, could it!"

"Don't be so childish…!"

Sonic snapped again and planted his palm on the ground. With unprecedented speed, he swung his legs and they hit Rouge's stomach head-on. Rouge flew into the tree behind her, causing it to snap into two. The pain made it feel like her spine had done the same thing. She fell on her side, but quickly picked herself up. Sonic ran to where she fell.

"I'm THROUGH playing games, all right!"

"If you'd just let me-!"

"ENOUGH OF YOUR LIES!" Sonic bellowed, suddenly reaching out and choking Rouge.

Rouge had not expected this. She was lifted a bit and brought her hands to where Sonics' were and tried to pry them off to no avail.

"I just…" Sonic said, wearing a sad face and tears coming from his eyes, "I just want them back, Rouge… is that so hard?"

Rouge wore a mirroring face of sorrow, but for Sonic's pain. She had never seen him like this… he really felt for Tails and Knuckles so much.

It was at this time her air started to give out, "So… nic…"

Sonic was out of it. His mind was elsewhere. Unfortunately, that didn't mean his grip loosened any. Things were starting to blur… Rouge fought to keep both eyes opened. She must have been hallucinating, for she saw a large green figure running up to them.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" A loud, gruff voice shouted. There was a grunt of pain from Sonic, and then both he and Rouge fell to the ground.

-

When Sonic came to, he was in a bed that looked familiar, but he felt he had never actually been in before. He yelped in pain, feeling his back, which had been punched in earlier. He sat up in the orange-framed bed and looked around. Blueprints lined the walls and gadgets and parts laid helter-skelter throughout the room. Also, there was a group picture of Team Sonic barely after they had defeated Metal Sonic as the Metal Overlord. Without a doubt, this was Tails's room of his laboratory. How did he get here?

Sonic got out of bed, for a few minutes forgetting entirely about the past day. Everything came back when he bumped into a large green wall. He backed up and beheld the figure of Vector the Crocodile.

"Hey, Ve-" Sonic started, but Vector stole the conversation.

"You should be ashamed of yourself!" He shouted, pointing down the hallway where one could assume Rouge was sleeping, "You nearly killed her out there!"

"Vector… she had it coming to her. Do you know what she did to Tails and Knuckles?"

"You mean 'nothing!'" Vector shouted as he led the way to a table. He pointed to several pictures in black-and-white.

"What are these?" Sonic asked, picking up some of the pictures.

"These are pictures from Rouge's spy camera. Apparently, she had one on her the night the incident at the Station Square museum happened. Look CLOSELY."

Sonic didn't appreciate the patronizing, but quickly the color left his face and now his muzzle started to turn blue. The pictures were taken from various angles. All of them featured the same object: A surly raccoon. There was one particular picture where the raccoon was on one side of Tails and Knuckles, then another picture where he was on the other side and the other two were on the ground. The pictures hit the floor.

"Oh darn it…" Sonic muttered so low he even barely heard it. Vector recognized the realization on Sonic's face and nodded.

"These pictures completely clear Rouge's name. Normally I'd request some kind of pay for my detective services, but I made a special exception for this time."

Sonic sat down and buried his face in his hands for yet the umpteenth time, "I blew it again."

"Ahh, I'd be a hypocrite to lecture you. I nearly went berserk, myself." Vector found his way to a refrigerator and began to drink a soda.

"Huh?"

"Oh, I'm sure you've seen the eviction notice on the detective agency door. Some days ago, Espio and Charmy went off to run errands and never came back! It was at this time I wished we all shared one bank account, for with only one third of the rent able to pay, we, or I, rather, got evicted." Vector gave a mix between a laugh and a snort and continued to empty the soda can.

"Do you think they're missing?"

"I don't rightly know! It's the only explanation besides that they ditched me… and we're entirely too close for that!"

Sonic merely nodded. Vector tossed him a soda and they thought about their current situations.

"I think the rest of Team Chaotix suffered a fate similar to Tails and Knuckles." Both males looked to the doorway and saw Rouge as she stalked her way to the table, sitting across from Sonic, "My, Vector, you sure are the detective aren't you? Finding my spy camera and developing the film so quickly!"

"Quickly!" Vector scoffed, "You both must've been out for at least fourteen hours, minimum! You just had the stuffing beaten out of you and YOU, Sonic, mustn't have slept in a while and were under a LOT of stress. I'm sure you're both okay NOW."

Sonic quickly recalled what he nearly did to Rouge, "Um… Rouge, I-"

"I'm sure you are. I'll settle on forgiving if you just don't ask me what I was doing at that vault." Rouge said, holding up a dismissive hand to Sonic.

"What did you mean that the rest of my team suffered similar fates? You think that raccoon got to them, too?"

"His name is Bandit, I gathered." Rouge muttered, making sure her voice dripped of disdain when she said the name.

"Either him or someone I met, Talon the Hawk. He… he took out Amy when he was aiming for me."

Rouge made an interested mouth noise.

"What?" Sonic asked.

"Now I can see why you were on the warpath, Romeo."

"You couldn't be more wrong!" Sonic shouted back, face red.

"Do I have to separate you two… again?" Vector asked.

There was a bit of a silence before anybody talked.

"So… What are we going to do?" Sonic asked with a smirk, indicating the return of his classic personality and sense of duty, "We have apparently two powerful guys running around taking down heroes left and right."

"Do you think there are more?" Rouge asked.

"I've seen nobody." Vector spoke up.

"Well… I've seen somebody new. A leopard named Sheena. However… I don't really think she's one of them… she was there when Talon took down Amy… she even went after him at one time.

"Innocent until proven guilty…" Vector nodded, "As Sonic has proven, we have to be careful and making harsh decisions isn't the best plan action for the time being.

"I'll vouch for that." Rouge muttered, rubbing in places where Sonic had hit her earlier.

"Our plan is obvious, then! We find these guys, we find the way to get back all that was lost, then we can bring them to justice!" Sonic said, his voice rising in an inspirational manner.

"'We?'" Vector echoed, the word cutting into the moment, "You speak as if we were a kind of team!"

Sonic flashed a grin with teeth, signaling his complete control over his emotions, "Why can't we be? We all have scores to settle with these guys, do we not?"

"Well, my vendetta is only a hypothesis, but I can't just stand by during all this! I'm in!"

At this point, Sonic had stuck his hand out and when he agreed, Vector had put his hand over Sonic's. They both looked to Rouge expectantly.

"Normally, I'd never join up with a bunch of nutcases like you two… but given the circumstances, I guess I'll have to make do with what I have."

"Those 'certain circumstances' wouldn't include fighting for the sake of a certain echidna now, would it?" Sonic asked with a wider grin.

"I'll pretend you didn't say that!" Rouge said, putting her hand above Vector's.

"So it's official, then!" Sonic declared ceremoniously, "For the lack of choices, the three of us are forming a team to take down those guys."

At the same time, all three of them shouted, "Let's go team…!"

After that, all three of them had shouted out the names of their respective former teams. Sonic had shouted his own name, Rouge had declared "Dark," and Vector called out the Chaotix. All three of them froze in the same position of their arms raised after releasing them from the center. They all then folded their arms in thought. Whose team name were they to use?

"I supplied the most vital information! The Team should be Dark!" Rouge demanded.

"No way! In a way, I save you BOTH from Sonic's wrath! You owe it to me to name the Team Chaotix!" Vector argued.

"I naturally assumed we'd name the Team after me, the one who has saved the world more times than any of you can count!" Sonic said with a thumb pointed at himself.

There was another silence.

Vector suddenly grinned, "How well are you two?"

"Fine enough." Sonic shrugged.

"Fit as a fiddle!" Rouge declared.

"In that case, I propose we hold a battle to determine whose name we use!"

Sonic chuckled, "Fine by me!"

"You're both on!" Rouge agreed.

"To Emerald Beach!" Sonic shouted, which was followed by compliance from the other two.

As they left, Sonic looked to Vector, "How DID you get into this place, anyway?"

"The door wasn't locked."

-

Now a new day, a bright sun beat down on Emerald Beach as the three combatants-to-be took their places at the scene of their battle.

"Let me warn you, Vector… Rouge is sneaky. She might try anything to win." Sonic said to Vector under his breath before they separated.

"Sonic's experienced, therefore the greatest threat." Vector had said to Rouge.

"I don't like that large build of his… one of us might not be enough." Rouge muttered to Sonic.

"All right, are we ready?" Sonic announced when all three got into place. The other two nodded. "Okay! Three… Two… One… LET'S ROCK!"

Sonic and Vector took off at runs to the center of the beach while Rouge kicked off a rock and flew directly forward. Once the three of them reached the center, Vector swung an arm at both his opponents with a yell, to which Sonic responded by ducking and Rouge pumping her wings and flying over. When she landed, she stuck out her leg backwards and kicked Vector in the back. Sonic took the opportunity to perform his trademark Sonic Flare, tripping Vector and making the crocodile dive forward. Vector noticed the other two dashing off into two different directions, not flattered that they had teamed up on him.

Sonic ran toward the water, then turned and ran back. He saw Vector ready to receive him. He started to wonder where Rouge was when suddenly; an impact hit him in the stomach. Sonic stopped cold and looked to the source of the hurt: Rouge. The force of her kick and the speed he was going caused for quite a painful collision for Sonic. He coughed and involuntarily doubled over in pain. Rouge smirked upon her handiwork when a large shadow was seen over her. She whirled around in time to get grabbed in the face by Vector. Vector made a large wind-up, nearly making Rouge sick, then let her go, heaving her into the air and making her land in the sand with a soft thud. Vector walked over to Sonic to make sure he was out. The blue hedgehog's eyes shot open.

"Psyche!"

In a motion, Sonic got on his feet and performed his Sonic upper, launching Vector into the air. Sonic wasted no time in jumping on to a rock, then propelling himself upward. He rolled into a homing attack and smashed Vector in the side. The crocodile repositioned himself in the air and landed on his feet, making large skid-marks in the sand.

Vector heard footfalls from behind. In an unexpected act of nimble grace, he performed a back flip. When Rouge had run past him, used the momentum to kick her in the back. Rouge yelped, then flew forward until she barreled into an unsuspecting Sonic. They both tumbled through the sand until momentum gave out. Once they both regained their bearings, they noticed the position they were in: Sonic flat on his back and Rouge straddling him. Both their eyes went wide and they gave panicked yells. Sonic slid out from under as Rouge jumped off. They both blushed and Rouge's face wore a scowl.

Both the hedgehog and the bat turned to see Vector enjoying a laugh at their expense.

"I say we gang up on him, again." Rouge growled. Sonic merely nodded. They both took off toward him.

"Uh oh…" Vector muttered, then tried to run away, but his speed didn't match the other two. They quickly caught up to him and did jump kicks into his back. Vector landed face-first in the sand.

"Not too bad if I say so mys-" Sonic started, but then he jumped over Rouge's incoming kick and used the jump to roll into a homing attack. She landed in the sand right next to Vector in the same fashion.

"I told you his experience would be a great threat." Vector mumbled.

"I don't need your charity." Rouge told Vector as she once again took off toward Sonic, sore that he got off a cheap shot before she did.

Sonic prepared for the oncoming combatants, not really knowing what to expect. She could turn around and hit Vector, or Vector could suddenly yank her away, but instead Vector leapt through the air and Rouge rounded about the side. Sonic wondered why she was doing that when Vector's shadow showed him falling at an alarming rate, his fists out ready to pound a certain hedgehog senseless. Sonic was about to move when he noticed Vector short a few feet. He only watched as the flailing crocodile his the ground on his stomach.

"Aim a little off?" Sonic barely had time to gloat when he felt his tail and one of the quills on his head yanked. Shortly, he was mounted on Rouge's arms.

"Gotcha!" Rouge grinned. She noticed Sonic tried running out, but she was holding him upward, where would he go, and with what ground? "All right, Vector. I'm going to toss him and you'll HIT him this time!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Vector said and leapt up again. When he was well in the air, Rouge leapt up after him.

"This isn't fair!" Sonic shouted, trying to roll off Rouge's hands.

"Well… aren't you going to let him go?" Vector asked, starting his descent.

"Oh, you mean like THIS?" At that last word, Rouge made a burst of air, spun around, and then heaved Sonic like a blue missile. Vector had not expected that and could only watch as a screaming Sonic flew toward him.

There was a huge collision and both figures hit the sand. Rouge landed calmly, and then folded her wings in.

"That'll teach you both to underestimate me! Not only am I the leader of Team Dark, but you both were knocked out at the same time, making you both the LOWEST rank!"

She emitted a soft yet evil laugh, which was short-lived. Vector's eyes had become two large swirls, indicating he was out cold, but Sonic's hand started to move and Rouge watched as he picked himself up.

"How!"

"Vector may had skin like leather… but I'm just made of something tougher." Sonic grinned, and then thumbed his nose toward Rouge.

Rouge, rather than getting angry, as was characteristic of her, folded her arms and laughed.

"You know, this was actually what I was hoping for. I've always wondered what the strength of the alleged greatest hero on the planet was like. Of course, we had our go around when we fought over the Gizoid all that time ago… but I never really felt that counted."

"That's only because I won that you don't think it counted!" Sonic said, folding his arms like Rouge had.

"I wasn't in my prime back then!" Rouge insisted, jabbing Sonic's chest with a finger, "But right now I feel like a million rings!"

"Oh really?" Sonic made a grin as he poked a purple spot on Rouge's shoulder where he remembered having hit her earlier.

"YOW!" Rouge yelped and smacked Sonic's finger away, "Okay, so I'm a few rings short of perfection, but that's YOUR fault for not controlling yourself!"

"We both know WHY I was that way, and I was completely justified!"

"Humph! Yeah… you seemed really torn up about those two."

"You know… it's kind of sad that this is the closest we've ever come to having a heart-to-heart talk."

"I notice that as well. Maybe later when I lead this group we can talk more."

"Well! The bat has a heart!"

"Wha-! Well, whether you have a BRAIN is still in question, isn't it?"

"Ouch. That hurt more than any kick you've placed."

"Allow me to CHANGE that!"

Rouge kicked forward and Sonic back flipped. When he reoriented himself, Rouge was gone! Sonic looked about and saw a formation of rocks that made a little shadowy cave. If he knew Rouge, and he didn't, she'd be there, taking advantage of the shadows.

Rouge waited in the formation for Sonic to come. She knew he would. At least, EVENTUALLY. Where was he! Rouge looked as finally Sonic walked into the cave. He was either too confident or stupid. Rouge backed up so all her features were covered in shadows.

Sonic looked around the cave-like area and tried in vain to spot Rouge. He had no such luck. He then stopped in the middle and looked around some more. The round area of flesh on his stomach might as well have been a target sign for the crafty bat as she landed right in front of he blue hedgehog, but still in the shadows. She waited for a bit, for when he was not looking, then kicked off the wall and flew toward Sonic.

Sonic, with a "ho-hum" quickly shifted to the side and only then did Rouge see the real purpose for his entering. Out of sight from her and covered up by Sonic was Vector, still very much knocked out cold, but propped up and in Rouge's path. Rouge tried to turn on a dime, but only ended up colliding into Vector at a high speed. In all rights, it was almost like hitting a brick wall covered in leather. After the rough thud sound, Sonic turned and saw Rouge comically peel off of Vector and both of them fell to the sand, knocked out.

Sonic gave a toothy grin, took a couple of steps, and then swept his hand over the two fallen combatants, "Battle set, everybody!"

-

A bit of time later, both Vector and Rouge came to at roughly the same time. They both noticed that they were lying on beach chairs with a parasol over them.

"Welcome back, team!" Sonic said. He looked toward them wearing sunglasses. He took the sunglasses off, "As team leader, the first order of business is some relaxing by the beach… I'm beat!"

Vector didn't know what to think about first, how Sonic got them there, how he got the equipment, or about how random this all was. Rather than try to swallow all that, Vector put his hands behind his head, "Sounds good to me!"

Rouge, however, had her legs crossed and arms folded and was wearing a scowl, "I can't believe that battle ended with such an anti-climax!"

"You only think it's anti-climactic because you lost… again."

"Hmph! Well… I'm bound by my word, so I guess I'll be staying in this 'team.'"

"Nice to know you're in the team spirit." Vector rolled his eyes.

"Let's not worry about it," Sonic said with a peaceful smile, "we'll work on our team dynamics tomorrow… then it's off to getting some answers! By the way… I have an original team name for us… Team Unity! You know, because we seem to be the unity of three teams: Sonic, Dark, and Chaotix. Not to mention how united we are against this new threat."

"That'll work." Vector said.

"Not too stupid…" Rouge muttered.

_Tails… Knuckles… Amy… I'll get you back._ Sonic thought.

_Espio… Charmy… you guys had better not just have copped out on me…_ Vector thought.

Rouge, however, was too busy inwardly seething about being only second in command to think about who or what she was fighting for.


	4. U Team Dynamics

**Sonic Evolution**

**Unity Story**

**Chapter 4: Team Dynamics**

The day was once again sunny, as if celebrating the formation of Team Unity. The team consisting of Sonic the hedgehog, Rouge the bat, and Vector the crocodile was going to be dedicated to bringing down the likes of two others, Bandit the raccoon and Talon the hawk. However, as Sonic had said earlier, they definitely will need to practice some team dynamics before they can do missions.

One particular sunbeam hit Rouge square in the eye. She groaned and remembered where she was. Their base of operations was to be in Tails's lab in Emerald Town. Although… why did SHE have to sleep in the fox boy's room while Sonic got his own room and Vector got the guest room? Didn't they know how to treat a lady? She sighed and got up. She picked up and put on her pink vest as she looked around he room and couldn't help but to smile at how Tails had decorated it. He had pictures of himself, Sonic, and even some with both. There were also blueprints all around and even pictures of other friends like Knuckles and Amy.

Rouge always thought that one's room said a lot about a person, and since she never really had a real "room" per se, it reflected how much of a loner she was. She just looked fondly around at all the pictures and thought that maybe being surrounded by friends was the way to go…

She quickly shook her head. What was that about? She's Rouge the bat, master treasure hunter! She sighed. Either at she had that thought, or she forced herself to repress it. She eventually walked over to a funny looking Chao doll whose head kept bouncing up and down. Probably one of the fox boy's inventions. She fondly touched the head when it suddenly fell off! Rouge caught it and quickly tried to put it back on in a bit of a scramble. Another gloved hand took it from hers. She looked and Sonic was right next to her.

"It has to be fit in clock-wise. Of course, you didn't know that."

Rouge sighed, "Um, thanks… I guess."

Sonic hadn't heard. He had looked over to a certain picture that depicted Team Sonic and Team Rose shortly after Metal Sonic had been defeated. They were on Emerald Beach and all the members of Team Sonic were joined hand-in-hand while Amy was hugging Sonic from Behind. Cream, Cheese, and Chocola were hovering behind while Big had Froggy on his head. Sonic was mainly looking at the picture of his team and Amy in light of what had happened.

Rouge looked from Sonic to the picture and back to Sonic again. Her ears dropped a bit. This was just way too much of a downer.

"Sonic…" Then she lifted his ear and put her mouth right next to it, "Sonic!"

"WHAT!" Sonic shouted, then breathed for a bit.

"You really must stop doing that… It makes ME sad."

"Hunh… you'd understand better if you made better efforts to make friends."

Rouge made to immediately disagree, but then just sighed at Sonic's being right. There was an awkward silence until it was broken by the dual rumbling of both Sonic's and Rouge's stomachs.

"Guess we ought to have breakfast." Rouge said.

"Yeah… think you could make something?" Sonic asked.

"Wh-wh-WHAT!" Rouge suddenly shouted, causing Sonic to widen his eyes for two seconds, "You think I can cook just because I am a young woman! That… that has to be the worst thing anybody has every said to me at any time!"

Sonic put his gloved hand over Rouge's mouth, "I assumed that you could cook because of how you are a loner and you need to fend for yourself to survive." He then took his hand off.

A thin red blush formed on Rouge's muzzle, "Um… No, no… I never really learned how to cook… despite being a loner."

"Well that's just great." Sonic muttered, "Tails always did the cooking when I was here… how are we going to eat?"

As if on cue, a smell wafted into the room and into their noses.

"What's that…?" Sonic asked dreamily, it smelled good.

The hedgehog and the bat exited the room to the kitchen and were surprised to see, of all people, Vector over the stove with a frying pan, bobbing his head to the music on his headphones.

The other two looked at each other in disbelief. They approached and Vector looked behind, "Good morning, Team!"

"Vector… you can cook?" Sonic asked.

"Ohh yes. For a time I lived with that kid and the somewhat egotistical ninja. When you live with all males, one of you has to learn to cook! Besides, it's easy!"

After a nice breakfast, the team discussed strategy.

"The last time I trained on team dynamics, Eggman had plenty of robots for us to work out on." Sonic said.

"I suppose we could create targets."

"That'll take too long!" Rogue said with a wave of her hand, "I have a better idea."

-

"I paid a pretty amount of rings for these, but it's worth it."

Per Rouge's idea, they had to go to Club Rouge in Night Babylon. There, Rouge had stored a bunch of security droids that she bought off of Eggman anonymously.

"This is great!" Sonic said, "These things will do perfectly! Great idea!"

Rouge thought… when was the last time such a compliment had been given to her? She thought back on all the other "Teams" she had been on. Eggman wasn't really much to give compliments, Shadow was incredibly antisocial, and Omega… well, he had a bit of a one-track mind.

"So… we can just trash these guys and they'll just keep coming back like new?" Vector asked.

"That's how they work."

"All right, Team!" Sonic declared, "Let's get to work on our abilities! I think we all know everything that the Speed formation entails, so let's go right on to flying formation!"

"I'll take it from here!" Rouge said.

Rouge leapt into the air. Sonic leapt up and the joined hands. They landed on Vector, who took Sonic's feet.

"Let's go to the roof of Club Rouge from here!" Sonic suggested.

Rouge took off… or rather, tried to.

"Ungh! Have you ever considered a diet, Vector?"

"EXCUSE me? At one point, you carried around a huge robot!"

"He was surprisingly light-weight!"

"CHARMY could carry me!"

"That really helps…"

Rouge tried again and this time took off like what would be considered normal. They landed right on the roof where some of the newly dubbed training robots laid in wait.

"Eat Thunder Shoot!"

Rouge and Vector tossed Sonic forward. The blue blur smashed into one of the training robots. Rouge then used her strength to heave Vector as another robot. Sonic landed, then immediately jumped back into Rouge's hands and Vector came back and grabbed Sonic's feet. After that, they disbanded.

"Good!" Sonic declared, "I think we can be done as soon as we get good at the power formation!"

"Here we go!" Vector said.

Sonic and Rouge moved to either side of the crocodile in time for some more training robots to arrive.

"All right, you guys! Into my mouth!"

Sonic and Rouge exchanged a look that showed that they didn't believe what they just heard.

"What?" Vector asked, hands on hips.

"In your… mouth?" Rouge asked.

"Yeah! Then I launch you out! What's so hard to understand about that? My basic attack is a chomp!"

"Have you ever considered using your arms?" Sonic inquired.

"Uhh… maybe."

"Try that." Rouge said immediately.

In their respective teams, their power characters had been the same. Both Knuckles and Omega used their fists and launched their teammates in their own way. This is why they sprung for a similar power character in this team.

Vector ran at the training robots with Sonic and Rouge barely behind. Vector thrust a fist out and smashed one. Immediately Sonic and Rouge balled up and rolled into Vector's hands. Vector gripped them, then with his characteristic throaty yell, tossed them into two more robots. Both of the others bounced back. Filled with momentum, Vector fell and started to spin, shooting fire in a circle. Many of the training robots were incinerated.

"I've refined that attack over the years… making it the most powerful I've got!"

"Cool," Sonic said, "now how are you at hovering?"

"I've got that covered! I blow a balloon with gum and float right down!"

"That's disgusting! How did those other two ever tolerate you!" Rouge said, reeling back at the thought of being propelled by a gum balloon.

"So… what? I have to change that, as well?"

"In a word, yes." Sonic winced, imagining the gum popping and getting into his beautiful quills.

"I suggest the Triangle Dive. Your team also used it, as I observed." Rouge said.

"Wait… when did you observe that?" Sonic asked

Rouge folded her arms; "I do have the experience of an agent so you can't blame me for doing a little bit of spying out of habit."

"On Knuckles…" Sonic said so nobody would hear.

"How about getting back to the matter at hand?" Vector cut in.

To make a long story short, Club Rouge had a large fan in the ground. The team used it to practice the Triangle Dive, which Vector took to quite well.

"I think we're almost done! Last we need is our Team Blast!" Sonic said as soon as they landed.

"I suppose since you're leader, it's going to be YOUR team's attack?" Rouge asked.

Sonic rubbed his chin, "Not really, but good idea!"

Rouge sighed.

-

Sonic described Team Sonic's Team Blast. After a few bits of individual practice, they got together to try it out. A bunch of training robots were propped up as target.

"Ready?" Sonic asked, the other two nodded, "Go!"

Quickly, Rouge and Sonic jumped into the air. Rouge grabbed Sonic's feet and landed into Vector's hands. Vector spun them around a bit then let them go. Sonic and Rouge hung dangerously over the training robots. This was when the attack called for Rouge, the flight character, to kick Sonic, the speed character and propel him into his attacks. Most unfortunately, Rouge wore the metal-tipped hearts on the ends of her shoes.

"AIEEEEE!" Sonic shrieked when being kicked. He comically fell to the ground on his face, skidding a bit and landing in front of one of the training robots.

"That's going to hurt tomorrow." Vector winced.

Rouge landed next to Sonic, "Are you… okay?"

"Nothing a nice good period of crying wouldn't heal." The hedgehog groaned.

A bit of time and an icepack later, the team came to an agreement that they should try another Team Blast. Team Dark's blast was next, for Rouge was second in command.

"Although, it concerns a Chaos Emerald, which Omega always had."

"No problem!" Sonic said, taking out an Emerald, "This is one of the false Emeralds that Tails made. He uses it in a lot of his inventions. If I could use Chaos Control with a fake emerald before, then I can now."

With that, they got into a position to perform the Chaos Inferno. Rouge held Vector while Vector supported Sonic with his feet.

"Chaos Control!"

There were lights indicating that the Chaos Control had been executed. Then, substitute for Omega's lasers, Vector gathered his strength and shot a huge steam of fire.

Once they were done, Rouge said to Vector, "You didn't rotate!"

"Rotate?" Vector asked.

Now that she thought about it, Omega did rotate his torso… and only his torso. So much for the Chaos Inferno.

As a last resort, they finally tried Vector's Team blast, the Chaotix Recital.

"Okay," Vector said, fishing out some instruments, "Sonic, you get the string instrument and for the flight character, drums."

"Drums?" Rouge repeated, taking the instrument, "I feel that's insulting to my intelligence."

"Charmy had no problem."

"… And that's supposed to HINDER my point?"

"I know, I know. Now, here's what you play. We should make an explosion of musical notes fly when we do this, all right? Let's play!"

Rouge rolled her eyes as she beat the small drum. Sonic frantically plucked at his instrument, trying to play what Espio could so easily. After a few second, Vector clutched the microphone stand in front of him and sang a note really loud. When he stopped, he looked and all the training robots were still standing.

"I played my part…" Vector mused.

"We both did," Rouge said, "Sonic was off-key."

"Off-key!" Sonic shouted back, "You hit the drums WAY too hard!"

"They're DRUMS!"

"Yeah, and you can't play them right!"

"I'm sure you embarrassed yourself more than I did, being all twitchy and stuff."

"I HAD to, the notes were so fast! I nailed them all, too!"

"You're probably down a hertz… In tone and in your brain."

"I'LL HERTZ YOU!"

Both of them threw down their instruments and Sonic charged at Rouge, catching her in the stomach and making them tumble over in a dust cloud of fury.

"Uggh…" Vector sighed, slapping his forehead and running the hand down his long muzzle in exasperation, "We're not even platinum and there's already bickering… STOP IT!"

Immediately the dust cleared and Sonic and Rouge froze in place. Sonic was flat on his back, clutching two of the bars of hair under Rouge's head and Rouge was straddling Sonic, a hand on his chest and a fist raised to pound his head in. They both looked at Vector.

"I can tell right now this Team Blast won't work."

"Then what?" Sonic asked, neither he nor Rouge changed position, "We go without a Team Blast?"

"It appears as such." Vector muttered, "We can have… THIS happening in the heat of battle! Let's just go back to the lab."

As Vector walked away, Sonic and Rouge realized what position they were in and for the second time let out yelps and jumped off each other. After trying to avoid each other's gaze for a couple of seconds, they ran after Vector.

-

Back in the lab, there was little going on until Sonic happened to look at Tails's invention desk and picked up an odd scanner.

"Now what could this be? It looks like Tails was working on it before he went off to the vault with Knuckles…"

"What have you got there?" Vector asked, coming from behind Sonic.

"Um… this scanner. Do you know what it does?"

"Let me see." Vector took it and pushed some buttons, "Hey…! This is incredible! This baby can pick up on acute Chaos frequencies from any point! Maybe if I can recalibrate the output…" He looked to Sonic, who returned a blank stare, "Um… where's Rouge?"

Rouge was just as excited about the scanner, which in words Sonic could understand, can track Chaos Emeralds. Vector and Rogue went off talking in all sorts of jargon while Sonic could only hang back and let the question marks pop up over his head.

"I didn't know you knew so much about tracking technology!" Rouge said.

"When you're a detective, knowing where people are is essential! Besides, with proper training anybody can get the hang of it!" Vector gave a thumbs-up.

"Except for Sonic the hedgedork over there."

"Oh, leave him alone. It's not his fault he left all the technological aspects of his adventures to Tails!"

After a while, they finally emerged, looking proud of themselves.

"We have here, a perfected Chaos Emerald locator!" Vector announced. Rouge flashed her hands by it in a showy fashion.

"You mean with this thing we can find Chaos Emeralds?"

"You bet! And you know, I bet they'll give us the edge over Bandit and Talon that we need! Either that, or we could at least level the playing field. I bet that wind attack that took out Amy was powered by the Chaos Emerald Bandit took!"

"Yeah!" Sonic remembered something, "I thought I heard a voice, but I didn't think of it… I think it was Talon using the attack! Chaos Gust, or something like that."

"All the more reason we need that Emerald! I bet they could also be searching for Emeralds to increase their power!" Rouge cut in.

Sonic and Vector nodded.

"Let's test this out!" Vector said, and then pushed a button. The screen lit up and there was one definable purple glow.

"There it is!" Rouge trumpeted.

"Yeah… that's the new Security vault made after Prison Island was destroyed!" Sonic said, knowing his fair share of the world.

"I pillaged it once, I can do it again!" Rouge said, hitting her fist into her palm.

"Come now," Vector said, a sagely finger pointed in the air, "we're not pillaging… we're more like forcefully borrowing with little chance of return."

The three of them burst into laughter as Sonic lead them to where the Tornado was locked up.

-

Sonic drove the tornado and the three of them looked down at the Security hall.

"How do things look down there?" Sonic asked.

"Looks the same from the last Security Hall!" Rouge called out over the whipping wind.

"I bet it wasn't reinforced with so many lasers like that!" Vector called, indicating that the roof was covered in lasers.

"I bet I could find what switches them off!" Sonic called.

"NO!" Both the others shouted.

"You're the only one who knows anything about flying this deathtrap! I'll go!" Rouge called, getting ready to jump off.

"Make sure you don't land on any of the lasers!" Vector said.

"No, Vector," Rouge muttered, dripping with sarcasm, "I planned on making a ten-point landing directly onto that laser right there."

"No need to patronize." Vector muttered.

"I think I see a good spot to the right a bit!" Rouge called to Sonic.

"Here? Okay… Good luck!"

When Rouge free fell toward the building, she thought about Sonic's words, "Good luck." Had she ever been wished good luck in the past? Well, why should she have? All she did was steal and do things in the name of evil, save her most recent two teams. She was shaken out when she got within a good distance of the roof. She straightened out and landed perfectly on the roof. Suddenly her communicator crackled to life.

"Rouge!" Vector's voice said, "Sonic used the Tornado to scan the roof… apparently, there are three transmitters that keep the roof covered in lasers. You must find these transmitters and take them. That way, the Tornado can land! I've downloaded the frequency of these transmitters so they will register on your radar!"

"Got it!" Rouge said and leapt over some lasers.

-

Characteristic of her treasure hunter stereotype, Rouge ran, ducked, flipped, and somersaulted under over and around lasers until finally her radar began a slow beeping. She looked and saw the outline of one of the transmitters on her radar glow green. She grinned and walked forward more, looking out for lasers. She looked around and saw she was going the right way, for the outline turned yellow and the beeping sped up. In the distance she saw a pole and felt that was significant. When she got right under it, the outline when red and the beeping was constant.

"It's got to be close!"

She looked around the pole and noticed when she went away from the pole at all, the outline turned yellow again. She then looked up and saw a glint at the top of the pole.

"Haven't done this in a while."

Rouge leapt and grabbed on to the pole. She quickly climbed her way up and made herself level with the glint. She saw an odd box with a flickering red light. She picked the box off the pole and the red light stopped flickering. She looked down and saw the lasers fade, and then regain their glow.

"Only two more to go…"

Rouge dropped and flew over the lasers. By dumb luck, the radar beeped with the location of the second transmitter. She immediately dropped and looked around. The sight she saw made her gasp. She quickly scrambled behind a wall. As soon as she did, a GUN Gun Hunter passed by.

"Not these guys again…" Rouge moaned. She looked at her radar. It had turned red, "It's in him?"

The Gun Hunter looked at where Rouge used to be, then directly up in time to see Rouge come down and deliver a Drill Drive right down the middle. In the process, Rouge picked up the transmitter inside. The lasers once again flickered.

"Only one left."

As soon as Rouge turned, she noticed a Gold Beetle ahead. She took a running start and with a yell and a kick, the Beetle was in pieces. Now that her fun was over, it was back to work. It took quite a bit of roaming, but the third transmitter began to beep. Rouge looked around and saw the familiar glint… in the middle of a bunch of lasers.

"Just great…"

She walked over and estimated that she could reach out and grab the transmitter if she did not trip any of the lasers. She took off her pink jacket, for it could get in the way. She then reached her sleeveless arm through the lasers, sweat dotting her brow. Eventually she felt the transmitter and lifted it up. Immediately all the lasers faded. She calmly put her pink jacket back on.

Rouge gave a frail sigh, and then shouted, "I've got it!" She did a triumphant spin, then hooked her arm forward.

-

Rouge looked on proudly as the Tornado landed.

"Great job!" Vector trumpeted with a thumbs-up.

"There's still more." Sonic said and motioned for the other two to come. Below a window, many GUN Laser Hunters could be easily seen.

"There's too many…" Rouge muttered in an exasperated tone.

"No problem!" Vector grinned, cracking his knuckled, "Leave them to me!"

The window was opened and Vector leapt through the opening.

-

Vector landed hard, making all the Laser Hunters fall. He then ran around, smashing his fist against and ripping apart all of them in a close radius with his jaws. He continued forward and noticed that the doorway ahead of him was barred. He looked around and spied another Laser Hunter. One scrapped robot later, the bars lifted.

The crocodile stomped through and all seemed well until he noticed an oncoming swarm of GUN Gun Beetles. Vector waited, and then pounced with a Hammer Down that bounced him to the next Beetle. He Hammer Downed again until there were no more Beetles to bounce off of. The rest he waited for to swoop down upon him upon which he took them out with his fist.

The next room entailed a chasm and an opposite end at a lower height than the entrance. Vector backed up, then ran and leapt. He then spun around in mid-air, actually making him launch forward faster. He landed on the other end with room to spare.

There followed a narrow hallway, which Vector crossed and came face-to-face with a Shield Hunter. With a yell he tried to smash the shield in, but only succeeded in injuring himself. He blew on his hand and looked as the Shield Hunter raised the shield to fire. Vector rolled his eyes at his brash fighting, then clamped on to the Shield Hunter's torso with his jaws and ripped it in two. The bars lifted off the path ahead. A Gold Beetle appeared right beside Vector and faced him. Vector gave the golden one a quizzical look, then drove his fist through it.

The large room below was filled with all sorts of GUN robots. Vector sighed at having to fight them all, but noticed an odd box at the other end of the room. He swiftly made his way over to that side and noticed the box had the picture of a bomb on it. Curious, Vector punched the box and the bomb exploded, making a shockwave throughout the room and destroying all the robots.

"Cool." Vector said with a grin.

Vector jumped down and looked about. Another hallway ended with a bunch of locked doors. Vector got ready to start punching doors down when he noticed a missile next to him with a big green button. Once again curious, Vector stepped on the button and the missile took off! It smashed down every door in the way.

"Once again… cool."

Vector ran through the hallway and was besieged by a bunch of Gun and Laser Hunters. A whole lot of punching later, they were all downed.

"That's the way!" Vector proclaimed, first swinging an arm across his chest, then returning the arm to its appropriate side and sticking it out, giving a thumbs-up.

-

Sonic and Rouge finally caught up, or more like Sonic caught up, clutching Rouge's arm as he half-dragged her so she would keep up.

"Seems like there's an elevator over here… but it doesn't work." Vector said, indicating the elevator.

"Do you think the answer is somewhere down there?" Sonic asked, pointing toward a staircase leading downward, "I'll find out! If the elevator activated, get right on in!"

The blue hedgehog took off down the stairway.

-

Sonic ran down the stairway, managing to not misstep and fall. Surprisingly, there was a dash panel that redirected him to the right and into a flat hallway, then another to direct him right again and down another flight of stairs. Eventually Sonic emerged into a wide-open area with many safes and lasers and robots. He grinned and ran forward. He came to meet some Gun Hunters who fell to a series of Homing Attacks. Some crates blocked his path onward, so he somersaulted into them to break them.

The path after the crates was a steep downward straightway path. At the end of it was a spring, which propelled him to another spring, and it continued until Sonic reached a ledge. None other than a Rhino Spike was there to greet him. Sonic ran and somersaulted into the robot, avoiding the spikes on top. Ahead of the Rhino Spike was a spiral staircase. Sonic more took notice of the handrail on the side. He jumped on and grinded down the handrail, trying to keep good balance.

As soon as the handrail stopped, Sonic jumped off and grabbed onto a horizontal pole. Sonic swung from the pole and eventually let go, propelling him into a field of lasers. The parabolic path he took kept him entirely safe from lasers. Sonic landed on top of a row of safes and ran across, reaching a dash panel at a slanted angle. Sonic hit it and flew into the air. He landed on another row of safes and kept running. He noticed no dash panel ahead, but a row of rings. Sonic lifted his feet and landed on one of the rings, activating his Light Dash. The Light Dash thrust him through the line of rings and directly into a rainbow hoop, where he performed a trick in the air. As an effect of the trick, Sonic landed on another rail.

The hedgehog crouched on the rail and it took him down to a definable ground. Sonic took off on a fast run as several safes started to fall from high up. Sonic dodged around to keep from being flattened. The floor ended abruptly, but not before Sonic saw an orange-and-white striped ramp. He ran up the ramp and jumped off, performing a spinning trick in mid-air. The trick gave him enough horizontal gain to launch forward and fall right through another field of lasers, not hitting a single one.

Once he landed, Sonic noticed a chasm with a line of Mono Beetles across. He knew a Homing Attack bridge when he saw one. He took into the air and Homing Attacked his way from each one to the next. The last one he did quickly in a panic, for it was a Gold Beetle and he knew how those things disappeared. He got it and made it across safely.

As he passed under a low area, he hit a dash panel and kept running, for a supply truck started to barrel down toward him.

"NOT AGAIN!" Sonic shouted as he tried to outrun the supply truck.

A bunch of turns, ramps, rings, and smashed equipment and walls later, Sonic found his salvation in a low-hanging catwalk. It was high enough for him to pass under easy, but the supply truck wouldn't be so lucky. Sonic enjoyed the metallic crunch of the truck hitting the catwalk. He hit two more dash panels and when he landed for the last time, he noticed he was on the terminal end of the elevator seen earlier.

"Yes!" Sonic shouted in triumph. He took two steps forward and swept a hand over nothing in particular.

-

Vector turned when the elevator turned on again and opened. He grinned, "Sonic."

Vector and Rouge walked into the elevator and the crocodile pushed the bottom of two buttons. Then they waited for the elevator to reach the bottom.

"Rolling around at the speed of sound… got places to go, got to follow my rainbow!"

"Ugh… I hate elevator music." Rouge groaned.

"I concur." Vector sighed.

They reached the bottom eventually and came out to Sonic, tapping his foot impatiently.

"Nice hustle." Rouge complimented, trying it out for once.

"Thanks." Sonic said, then turned to a door, "See that?"

"'Main vault…'" Vector read, "THAT is the MAIN vault? How far below the ground ARE we?"

"Pretty deep, I'd say." Rouge muttered.

"Well, we are literally deep in now… no turning back!" Sonic declared. Vector punched the door open and held it for Sonic and Rouge to go through.

-

The vault was huge and mazelike. The team decided it was better to stick together so they didn't lose one another. The only thing they could do besides walk was talk.

"Um… thanks again for the compliment." Sonic said to Rouge, scratching the back of his head, "I didn't really think that you were one to give out compliments."

"Well, I had to. Seeing as how you did the favor first, it was the least I could do."

"True."

Vector messed around with the Emerald Tracker and looked around. Rouge looked around at all doors, knobs, numbers, and whatnot and had to say more.

"You know Sonic… now that I've actually taken you seriously, I've come to realize you aren't as dumb and absent-minded as I initially thought."

"Thanks… I guess. I suppose that in the same sense, I've come to realize that you are more dependable than you first come off."

"It's your fault, really. All the niceness of being in Team Unity has rubbed off on me."

They exchanged a smile before Vector said, "Hey!" And pointed forward. The path split into three ways. Each way seemed to lead to the same end.

"Well, we didn't want to split up, but it seems that since this path leads to the same way, we might as well split up."

"Sure thing!" Sonic said with a thumbs-up, "Take care!" He walked down the leftmost path. Though he probably directed those last words to both of them, Rouge couldn't help but to think that he had said it solely to her. She and Vector exchanged a nod as he went down the middle path and she down the path to the right.

-

"You!" Vector shouted and pointed. A bit down the path, he had come across the form of Bandit the raccoon, as he seemed to be going the same way.

"Who are you?" Bandit asked.

"I am Vector the crocodile, the leader of the Chaotix detective agency!"

"Chaotix, hmm? I thought they were all taken out."

"What? Are you and that hawk responsible for the disappearance of Espio and Charmy?"

"Talon? Well… we were instrumental."

"Urgh! Where are they!"

"How should I know?"

"Don't play dumb!"

"No… that's your job."

"You'll pay for that!"

Vector and Bandit ran at each other in preparation to fight.

-

"You!" Rouge shouted and pointed. A bit down the path, she had come across the form of Talon the hawk, as he seemed to be going the same way.

"Ah, you must be Rouge."

"I don't care how you know my name! Just tell me what your aim is!"

"What I or my cohorts do is none of your business."

"One of these 'cohorts' wouldn't happen to be Bandit the raccoon, would it?"

"Why, yes."

"Then it IS my business! I'm sure you know what he did to me all that time ago!"

"Ahh, yes. At the Station Square vault. We had a good laugh."

"LAUGH! I could have died from blood loss!"

"And you think I'd care… why?"

Rouge gasped, "You monster!"

"Sticks and stones may break my bones…"

"… But my feet can do the job so much better!" Rouge finished.

Rouge and Talon flew at each other in preparation to fight.

-

"You!" Sonic Shouted and pointed. A bit down the path, he had come across the form of

Sheena the leopard, as she seemed to be going the same way.

Sheena jumped and gasped, "Don't yell! You scared me!"

"What are you doing here?" Sonic demanded.

"I saw Talon go in here… and furthermore, I saw that raccoon go in with him!"

"Bandit!" Sonic said, hitting a fist into his palm, "I knew they were in cahoots!"

Sheena nodded, "I followed them in when they disabled, then re-enabled security."

"You really shouldn't have gone in alone," Sonic said, "what if you found them both?"

Sheena bit her lip, a tear formed at her eye, "I'm sorry… I just… wanted to make up for failing to catch Talon earlier!

Sonic remembered when she put it upon herself to do that earlier, "It's not your fault, Sheena. I was just glad that he hadn't hit you with a Chaos Gust. I probably couldn't take another loss."

"Really?" Sheena looked with a warm smile and happy glint in her eye.

"Really. Now, let's get to the room at the end of this path. Maybe we can find them there."

Sonic and Sheena ran to the end in preparation for the end of the path.

-

Sonic and Sheena emerged at the end of the path and saw a mainly large, empty room, but at the opposite end was something familiar.

"The Chaos Emerald!" Sonic exclaimed and looked at the purple gem in all its glory.

"I'll get it!" Sheena said excitedly as she ran forward.

"Let's hope- WATCH IT!" Sonic dashed forward and grabbed Sheena, pulling her back in time for a Chaos Gust to barely miss her. In a bit of shock, Sheena clung to Sonic. Sonic blushed, and then gently pushed Sheena off. They both beheld Talon with another Emerald.

"Get away from the Emerald." Talon said, but was suddenly tackled from behind by Rouge.

"Rouge!" Sonic said.

Rouge had not time to react when Talon kicked her off, next to Sonic and Sheena. As if on cue, Vector ran from the third path, followed by Bandit. The team of three faced the team of two.

"So…" Sonic said, wearing a big grin, "The fight of the year is finally here!"

"Please," Bandit said. At this time, one would notice how cool his voice was, almost like how one would remembers Shadow the hedgehog's, but not so raspy and with more attitude, "now that we're on a second date, allow us to properly introduce ourselves."

"Talon the hawk and Bandit the raccoon, hereby known as Team Evolution at your service." Talon, with a voice like Bandit's but sans attitude and a little bit of volume, saluted in a military-like style.

"Team Evolution?" Rouge asked.

"Believe me when I say that we are, undoubtedly, examples of the highest forms of life." Bandit gave a thumbs-up.

"Well, Team Evolution," Sonic said, "you're about to feel the wrath of… TEAM UNITY!"

Sonic adopted his regular fighting stance, almost like he was on a surfboard. Rouge turned in toward the middle slightly, placed a hand on her hip, and shifted her weight to her back leg, letting the other one jut out. Vector, in between the other two, raised his head to the sky and has his powerful arms stretched out, hands also balled into fists. The three of them held their positions for a bit of time.

"Wow," Sonic mused, "for making up a team pose on the fly, that was pretty good."

"I know." Vector said in awe.

Bandit clapped slowly, "Nice. Are you trying out to be cheerleaders?"

"No." Sonic simply stated. Rather than make a comeback, all heck seemed to break loose as both teams rushed at each other and engaged in combat.

Team Evolution got first blood as Bandit jumped off of Talon's back and rammed his fists down, knocking Sonic and Rouge in the back of the head and making them fall on their faces. He quickly landed and back flipped to avoid Vector's swing. Sonic and Rouge picked themselves off the ground and both went after Talon, who flew up. He grinned at the other two, but Sonic and Rouge nodded and they adopted the flight formation sans Vector, who was busy with Bandit. They got level with Talon, who looked surprised. Rouge launched Sonic forward in a Thunder Shoot, which connected. Talon hit the wall and started to slide down.

Vector struck forward with both fists and his jaws and was still unable to get Bandit. The raccoon leapt back with grins and suddenly sprung forward, connecting an uppercut to Vector's chin. The crocodile stumbled back, and then readjusted himself in time to see Bandit come forward again. Vector opened his mouth and received Bandit's fist, clamping down hard. Bandit's eyes widened in pain and panic as he flailed around. A smile crept to Vector's lips as he shook his head, then did a back flip, letting go of Bandit and making him fly up into the air.

"I think we've gone easy long enough!" Bandit declared, balling a shaking fist.

"I concur!" Talon shouted, looking over at Team Unity.

"Come and get some, boys!" Sonic made a four-finger beckon.

With a shout, Team Evolution rushed forward and their speed was unprecedented. Talon had kicked Vector into Rouge while Bandit performed a crushing clothesline on Sonic. Vector immediately got off of Rouge and charged forward. He swiped several times at the other two and never succeeded. Talon bopped him in the head and Bandit slid under his feet, tripping him.

"URGH! Espio and Charmy did that to me all the time! One would think I'd know better by now!"

Bandit came from above and tried to smash Vector with his tail, but the crocodile rolled out of the way at the right time. He then ran over to Sonic and Rouge in attempt to get them back on their feet.

Sheena, in the meantime, had only been watching. She looked around, "I have to help!" She looked and saw a supply closet. She inched toward it and reached it. Inside were a bunch of odd batons. She picked them up.

"Sonic!" Sheena shouted, getting the attention of all in the room. She indicated she was bringing help.

"Thanks, Sheena!" Sonic smiled with a little hope.

Sheena tossed the weapons to Team Unity, but it was Team Evolution who intercepted them. She gasped deeply as they brandished the weapons, which turned out were electric batons. Bandit had two.

"Yeah… Thanks, Sheena." Bandit gave a thumbs-up to the leopard.

Sheena stood there stunned and shocked at what she just did, her face entirely pale.

"This is just great…" Rouge muttered, "Now they can electrocute."

"No problem!" Sonic said with determination, "We can still take them!"

"Oh how WRONG you are!" Talon shouted as the weapons flared forward.

Team Evolution slashed forward with their weapons and Team Unity could only dodge. Sheena clenched her fist. She had to try again! She looked and saw the answer: The Chaos Emerald. If she got that, she could use it. Sheena took off in a run towards the Emerald.

Team Evolution immediately swung around to look at her, "STOP!"

Sheena was so close to the Emerald… but so far, too. For in no time, Bandit and Talon were on her and all three electric batons hit her.

"AAAAHHHH!" Sheena shouted as voltage from each baton coursed through her body.

"NO!" Sonic shouted.

The other three only watched in shock as Team Evolution finally relented. Sheena moaned in torturous pain as she slowly toppled over and fell to the floor on her side, smoke rising from her fur.

"It's her fault. She got too close." Talon said.

"You… You'll pay for that!" Sonic swore.

"What can you possibly do?" Bandit asked.

As if in response, it seemed all three members of Team Unity were concentrating on something. After a bit, their eyes opened and they scrambled to the center of the room.

"Black Wave!" Rouge called, thrusting her arm in the air and spinning. The black circle appeared in the air.

With a yell, Vector shot a stream of fire from his mouth. The fire ran straight into the Black Wave and made it into a ball of black fire.

Lastly, Sonic jumped in and shouted, "Sonic Wind!" A wind blew into the black fire and made it form a tornado of black fire. This tornado kept growing, and then shot out in all directions.

Team Evolution gaped in horror as the wall of black flame wind rushed at them. They tried to make to escape, but they attack hit them head-on, making them fly through the air and smash into the wall painfully.

As everything settled, Sonic, Rouge, and Vector exchanged glances.

"What was that?" Rouge asked.

"I think… we just did a Team Blast!" Sonic replied excitedly, "It shall be called… the Delta Strike!"

"It was weird… I just suddenly knew what to do!" Vector exclaimed, looking confused.

All three looked to see Team Evolution get up… or rather try to.

"All right…" Bandit moaned, "Take the Chaos Emerald… we'll get the rest… you'll see!"

"Then…" Talon winced, "We'll come after that one!"

"Chaos Control…!" Both shouted and they were gone.

Team Unity enjoyed a moment of triumphant smiles, but soon they turned to looks of distress and worry as they ran over to Sheena.

"Sheena!" Sonic called.

"Are you okay?" Rouge demanded.

"Say something!" Vector near-pleaded.

There was silence until Sheena coughed, a cloud of smoke coming out, "I'll… live…"

Sonic sighed, "Thank goodness…"

Rouge turned her attention to the Chaos Emerald. She walked over to it and looked it over, making sure there was nothing to trip if she took it. She then swiped her hand forward and snatched the Emerald.

"What a day!" Vector sighed, "Let's go!"

"Yes… let's." Sonic said, picking up Sheena. He somehow got a flashback of when he had picked up Amy. Only this time, the figure in his arms was going to wake up eventually.

"Let me." Vector said, "I'm stronger."

Sonic nodded, and then held Sheena out to Vector. The crocodile gently nudged the leopard onto his back, her arms wrapped around and under his head.

The three of them walked through the line of safes for a bit, then as they exited, none of them saw the laser on the floor that all three stepped on at the same time. All the alarms went off.

"Aw jeez…" Vector moaned, but still smiled.

"Never a dull moment!" Sonic said with a grin.

"Let's blow this Popsicle stand!" Rouge said enthusiastically.

The three of them started in a run forward until Sonic grabbed Rouge and Vector's arms and made the three of them take off at sonic speed.

-

"How is she?" Sonic asked later when they were all back at Tails's lab. He was talking about Sheena.

"Well, you heard her." Vector replied, "She'll live. She hasn't suffered anything permanent, which is very good for how badly she got zapped."

"That's good to hear." Sonic said as he walked out of the room and came upon Rouge, sitting in a chair and feet propped on the table, admiring their new Emerald, "Some things never change, do they?"

"Well, pardon me for appreciating a good jewel." Rouge said, then grinned at Sonic as she tossed the Emerald to him, "Catch."

Sonic easily caught it, "Sharing a jewel? How unlike you."

Rouge shrugged and stood from her point on the chair, "I think it's amazing we have this thing… no thanks to that crazy leopard."

"What!" Sonic yelped.

"Hey!" Vector called, "I thought we'd get together all three of us before discussing her!"

"Discussing WHAT!" Sonic demanded, looking from Rouge to Vector and back again.

"All right, Sonic." Rouge said in a calming manner, "I'm sure you can remember all of what happened today, right? Let's say we fight with Team Evolution many more times… we can't just have Sheena underfoot, messing up all the time! She's a liability, Sonic!"

Sonic looked appalled, "She's only trying to help!"

"I'm not so sure…" Vector spoke up, "From what I've heard and seen, this Sheena is a suspicious character. I mean, when Talon first struck, she was there. Then she volunteers to go after Talon and fails. Now she supposedly follows those two down into the new Security Hall? She's awfully interested and involved for somebody with no reason to be."

"She saw Amy go down and since she lost Talon, she's felt a need to prove herself!" Sonic argued.

"Sonic…" Rouge said, almost in a pleading voice. Almost.

"No!" Sonic snapped, "I know for a fact that Sheena is a friend and if anybody disagrees with me, they can feel free to challenge me!"

Rouge and Vector stood stunned at Sonic's passion. The blue hedgehog looked from one teammate to the other, then after a while loosened up.

"I thought so."

"On another note," Vector said after clearing his throat, "did anybody else notice that Team Evolution vowed to have all the Chaos Emeralds?"

"I did." Rouge said.

"What do they need them for?" Sonic asked.

"I don't know…" Vector mused, "But we know that Team Evolution can't get all of the Chaos Emeralds, for whatever they have planned can't be good!"

"That's our mission, now?" Rouge asked, "Find the Emeralds before Team Evolution does?"

"I guess so."

"Well, Team," Sonic said with a grin, "we have our cause! Let's show those Evolutioners!"

The three of them held their hands one over the other.

"TEAM UNITY!"


	5. U Getting to Know You

**Sonic Evolution**

**Unity Story**

**Chapter 5: Getting to Know You**

The sun was shining, the weather was warm, and it was an all-around beautiful day. Sonic, however, could not be more bored. He lay under a parasol in Emerald Beach, occasionally looking up to check the time in any way, shape, or form. He became so overcome with boredom that he eventually gave out a medium-volume yell and ran to Tails's Lab. He stopped at Vector's side.

"Hasn't that thing found ANYTHING yet!" Sonic demanded.

The crocodile shook his head, "Nothing. I think that it only detects emeralds that experience spikes in chaos energy… and none have done so yet."

"Agggh!" Sonic groaned and flopped facedown on a couch. The last time he tried flopping on his back, he got careless and got stuck by his quills.

A pantry door slammed in the kitchen, "I'm more worried about finding food!" Rouge called.

"We're out already?" Vector asked, looking up from the Emerald scanner.

"It makes sense." Sonic muttered, lifting his head up, "Tails was really the only one to live and work here… he only had enough food for one."

"One of us will have to go shopping." Vector said, turning around.

"Not it!" Both the hedgehog and the bat shouted at the same time.

Vector took two seconds to process what happened, and then gave a resigning growl, "Very well… I'll do it. I swear, you two are just like Espio and Charmy sometimes."

As Vector walked out, Rouge called after him, "And make sure you buy a variety of things! I'm tired of eating chili dogs all the time!" Then turned to Sonic, "Seriously… it's just not healthy. How did that fox boy keep so well nourished with just chili dogs?"

"Don't knock chili dogs!" Sonic said, sitting up, "You should know they are full of all kinds of nutrition and tasted awesome!"

"Not when you've eaten them for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and in YOUR SLEEP!"

"All right… what do YOU eat?"

"Hunh!" Rouge turned away, "You wouldn't know nothing of my ideal sophisticated palate."

"And I don't want to!" Sonic said with disdain, "I'm sure you know nothing about me, either!"

"You know what, Sonic? You're right… for once. How can we expect to be a good team if we know nothing but the bare basics about each other?"

"I'm more worried about you picking my character apart and finding weaknesses to exploit."

"What!" Rouge said with a fake appalled expression, "I trust the rest of you plenty! Your words wound me!"

Sonic sighed, "Oh, all right. Any pieces of information you had in mind?"

Rouge placed a finger on her cheek and her wings expanded and contracted in thought, finally, she looked back, "Well, I've always been curious how you came to be what you are today… and also how you met those friends of yours, you have such a connection with them."

"Well, first thing's first. I just can't believe we have nothing better to do."

-

"To start with, I can't remember a lot about my family, if not anything at all. Maybe some vague remembrance of my uncle… and a sister… or a brother… or maybe both, I'm not sure. Anyway, it is irrelevant nonetheless. All I can remember for an earliest memory is just being out in a large field with Green Hills. I can't be too sure, but I think I lived near there. The start of my life running began one night when I saw a shooting star. It was so beautiful… I had to follow it! I ran and ran, but the shooting star was still faster and I lost it. After it disappeared… I just kept running! The feel of running fast was exhilarating and empowering. From then on… I vowed to run a little faster every day."

"Until you got to the speed you are now?"

"Nope." Sonic clasped his hands behind the back of his head and looked out a window thoughtfully, "To this day… I still retained that promise and manage to run faster every day."

"That's amazing…"

"Heh. Thanks. Now, I had been running for a while, always returning to that Green Hill Zone every once in a while, I loved running there. It was one day when I noticed that there were strange things there. Robots. Beetles, hornets, fish. I had no clue what was going on. I accidentally barreled into one of these guys and found that a small animal was in there! Busting another one freed another animal. I came to the realization that all these robots had little animals in them and felt that I had to do something! I soon perfected the ability to jump and roll into a ball… a prelude to my homing attack. I continued on my running route and found more and more of these robots and just thought… who could do this?"

"My question was soon answered once I found myself at the end of the route, marked by two floating platforms. I soon came face-to-face with a cocky evil scientist going by the name of Dr. Ivo Robotnik. He called me a spiky rat, I compared him to an egg, the subject of me surrendering to him came to question and I was forced to contend with a huge brown checker boarded wrecking ball. Long story short, I used those platforms and was able to bust his machine. He swore revenge; the usual vows… and that started my quest to stop that mad egg in his tracks at every evil scheme. I came to possess the seven Chaos Emeralds, but didn't really know what they did. Once I thought of how to get rid of them, they vanished!"

"Shortly after all that, the world knew peace. I spent this time seeing the world and trying to keep out of the eye of the human world. During these travels, I came to encounter a certain precocious fox boy by the name of Miles Prower. He didn't like that name, so he preferred to be called 'Tails.' I quickly came to realize that he was my biggest fan, for he was the most flustered I had ever seen a person when we first met."

Rouge faintly smiled. She could just imagine that little fox boy staring up at his idol with those huge eyes.

"He begged to come with me on my adventures, and I jokingly said, 'Only if you can keep up!' He surprised me when he actually did! He used his two tails as a propeller and was able to almost match my speed! I knew he was special… so I took him under my wing and he was invaluable when the good Doctor Robotnik struck again. With Tails's help, I was able to recollect the Chaos Emeralds and face Robotnik again. When I did… something odd happened. I found my way into the space station where he hatched his plan for world domination, and came to fight him again. I had to admit, I was pretty nervous. This was the toughest looking robot yet. As I dodged his attacks, I thought about all that was at stake… then I thought of Tails, my only real link to this world and something amazing happened!"

"The seven Chaos Emeralds I had started to resonate. I took to the air and felt the Emeralds empower me! When I landed, I knew I was no longer just Sonic the hedgehog… I was Super Sonic! No matter what that bloated egg hit me with, I could just shrug it off! I had never felt anything like it… as if the Chaos Emeralds could see deep inside that I was pure of heart and I wanted to triumph over Robotnik and save the world more than anything, and gave me the power to do so! I've come to the conclusion that, in order to draw power and go Super, one needs to clear their head of all outside distractions… concentrate on their goal, really ENVISION what they want, and most importantly, think of one thing you are fighting for most of all, really concentrate on it and how much you want to protect it. I thought… of Tails."

Sonic looked at the ground. He had that look that Rouge came to recognize whenever Sonic remembered that Tails was not with them for the time being and went depressed on her. She really thought he had beaten it. As she thought this, Sonic looked up again, regaining his composure. It looked like he was as over it as much as he could for now. He then smiled, preparing his next story.

"Even though I described Tails, one of my fans, most of them were girls. There was one certain pink hedgehog that stood out more than all the rest. Her name was Amy Rose and she attached herself to me."

"Awww…" Rouge swooned.

"Yeah, yeah. It was cute when she was docile. Anyway, she caught up to me one day when I was planning to visit a place called Never Lake. It is from Never Lake that one could access a place called the Little Planet that housed a bunch of things called the 'Time Stones.' Amy ended up being captured by the robotic doppelganger we've all come to know and loathe at Metal Sonic. To me, it was his introduction. Of course, good Doctor Robotnik was behind it. I got the Time Stones and beat Metal Sonic and Robotnik, nothing fancy there."

"We thought that the Death Egg, the fortress that I fought Robotnik in during the second adventure, was gone. Unfortunately, it only crashed in a place called Angel Island, which was kept afloat by the power of a powerful Emerald called the Master Emerald. Robotnik found the Death Egg and found out about the Emerald. Now for the part I bet you've been waiting for. One more time of peace later, I came to acquire a plane I called the Tornado. Though built for me, Tails fit in the cockpit like a hand to a glove. He loved it. We flew to an island where I could use my Super Sonic powers and really test them out. However, I was not Super Sonic for long, as from nowhere, a red echidna popped from the ground," Rouge leaned forward, listening more intently, "causing me to drop the Chaos Emeralds. Faster than anything, he picked them up, chuckled, and ran."

"Knuckles STOLE the Chaos Emeralds from you?" Rouge breathed, absolutely amazed, "There's some hope for that crazy echidna after all!"

"If you say so. It turned out that he hid the Emeralds in some kind of dimensional rift. Tails and I took off to get the Emeralds back, despite Knuckles's constant attempts to stop us. I had NO clue why he kept this up! It also seemed that he was in cahoots with Robotnik, much to our dismay. We saw that Robotnik planned to launch a ship into space for whatever reason. As we approached the final fight with Robotnik, Knuckles was there to bother us one last time. I left Tails behind and hijacked an egg carrier and rode it when Knuckles was on a thin beam and punched the carrier. He couldn't even finish chuckling before the ship started to blast off and the thin beam collapsed. I thought Knuckles was a goner! I, of course, defeated Robotnik, but too late, for the ship took off! The platform I was on burst and I fell. I stupidly could not keep hold of the Chaos Emeralds and they fell in different directions! Back into the dimensional rift they went."

"I landed on a soft mushroom. I knew that I had to find some way to catch up to that ship. As I explored the Mushroom Hill Zone, I came to a barricade. On the other side was a familiar taunting voice. None other than Knuckles. I was almost frustrated that he lived! I was back to square one, collecting the Chaos Emeralds for the fourth time while evading that stupid, stupid Echidna. When I was short some Emeralds, I realized that Knuckles was collecting them, too! Our paths finally met near a place I had never been before, Angel Island, where the echidnas lived. For the first time, Knuckles spoke to me for real, 'You're only after the Master Emerald because you want to steal it like you've always wanted to! Back off!' I had no clue what he was talking about, but I came to the conclusion that he was lied to, and I bet my top ring that it was Robotnik! Before I could reason with him, he attacked me! It was the toughest battle of my life, but I came out on top. As I left Knuckles to think about what he did, I realized all my Emeralds were gone. Knuckles took them. AGAIN."

"Twice!" The intently listening bat gasped, "What a rogue!"

"I had much more… inappropriate words to describe him with at the time. I noticed that the floating building I was in was crumbling, so I beat a path out of there and ended up on a floating platform with Angel Island in the distance, swaying as if it were off-balance. Roboitnik came for a bout while I was weakened. After it all, he left me with a present… a robotic version of me known as Silver Sonic. It turns out that Robotnik had the Master Emerald and was using it to power up Silver Sonic! He could even go Super for short periods of time! I couldn't fight him… but I didn't have to, for Knuckles arrived, seven Chaos Emeralds strong. He tapped into their power and became a new echidna, Hyper Knuckles. I had a newfound respect for Knuckles, for the Emeralds recognized his purity of heart enough to empower him. He defeated Silver Sonic, but with difficulty, so much so that he could not use the Emeralds any more. Robotnik came for one last laugh, telling us that his ultimate creation was in space, waiting to enslave mankind. He even broadcast it to the world. Thus, humankind knew of Robotnik, and of our kind, the furries, as we are called. I convinced Knuckles that I was a decent person and he gave me the Chaos Emeralds. I tried my hardest to think of Tails… wherever he was… but found that thinking of the whole world, full of off-guard people having their doom broadcasted to them, was what motivated the Emeralds to give me their power. I flew into space and saw that it was not a ship that was shot in the air, but a battle cruiser. I used its own missiles against it and defeated it."

"The battle was hard, so I lost the power of the Emeralds and I relinquished them. However, they did not disappear like before. Apparently, Knuckles and I overtaxed them, so they were forced to remain in this world. I really did not care, because I knew the greatest battle was over. Next to me, also falling toward Earth was the Master Emerald. I thought I was going to plummet when none other than Tails comes in the Tornado, rescues me, and uses some weird chain… thing to grab the Master Emerald. We then swung over and picked up Knuckles, who put the Master Emerald back in Angel Island. We made peace and all was well."

It seemed that whenever Sonic said the words "Master Emerald" Rouge got shivers thinking about her favorite large precious jewel. Sonic rolled his eyes.

"Oh, but how come Knuckles couldn't go Hyper during the ARK incident?"

"I… honestly don't know." Sonic muttered, "I think he first went hyper because of his determination and will to protect the Master Emerald. Over time, hanging out with Tails and me must have softened him… plus it seemed to have made him more gullible. Maybe these things keep the Emeralds from thinking he's worth their time."

"Let's not forget the anger."

"Oh, no. I think Knuckles was angrier BEFORE the mellowing out."

"Really? Ouch."

Sonic nodded, transitioning into the next part of the story, "Okay, so… because of Robotnik's last stunt, mankind now knew of his existence, and more importantly… of us, the furries."

"That's what mankind started to call us? I never knew that!"

"That's because it was a little used term and was discontinued… just like OUR term for THEM."

"Wow, I feel so out of things. What did YOUR group of furries call mankind?"

"We affectionately referred to them as 'outlanders."

"'Outlanders?'" Rouge repeated, not helping but to think of that term as familiar.

"I forgot where it came from, I think the way they abused the land… or something like that. Anyway, they finally knew of us and they reacted in a typical manner. They feared Robotnik and had no opinion on me, except for some extreme people who hate change and, in effect, furries. That's irrelevant, so I'll just go on to the last adventure. Tails and I minded our own businesses until one day Robotnik decided to show up in Station Square. It had been a while, so I remembered the first time I saw the good doctor and once again called him a big egg and for the first time referred to him as 'Eggman.'"

Rouge laughed, "So THAT'S where that came from!"

"Yeah, and I took a liking to it, too. Tails did, also. For some reason, I think the doctor did too… for he always started to refer to himself as 'Eggman' after that… I think out of spite. Eggman had come to unveil his newest creation: A liquid monster named Chaos. This guy was nasty. I think you've seen an artificial version of him in or near the space colony ARK? The big round guys with long arms? Well, true to his name, he took power from the Chaos Emeralds. Every time Eggman gave him one, he got more powerful and bigger and took on more intimidating shapes. Tails and I went off to get the Emeralds before Eggman did, but always seemed to lose them. For once, it seemed things were going entirely Eggman's way! Oh, and something weird went on with Amy, and you know Big? Well, he was fishing for his pet frog the entire time. Also I believe that Knuckles was out doing something with the pieces of the Master Emerald. He got tricked by Eggman into thinking I wanted that Emerald. AGAIN. That was quickly sorted out and finally, I think Knuckles got it in his thick skull that we were good people to be around. I forgot when, but during this time I saw a vision. I can barely remember it now, but I do remember who the vision was about… some female echidna named Tikal."

Hearing the name "Tikal" gave Rouge a feeling of déjà vu… somehow.

"She told me that I had to stop the impending evil or the world would be in peril and all that stuff. I, of course, took it to heart and upped my efforts to find the Emeralds. Unfortunately… Chaos ended up having them all. I somehow tapped into the power of the Chaos Emeralds anyway and was able to go Super and defeat that monster. After all that, well, that's about when you appeared."

"Well," Rouge said, "That IS quite a story… and life you've lead, Sonic."

"I like to think of it as a life well spent. I think I'd go nuts if the world weren't in danger for more than a week. Well, that's all from my end. You're turn."

Rouge looked up with a start. She hadn't expected to have a "turn." She exhaled and rolled her eyes in reluctance, but finally seemed to relax enough to begin her story.

-

"Just like you, Sonic, I don't remember my family… maybe because I had none TO remember. Yes, I was an orphan. In the early years of my life, all I owned… was this."

Rouge reached into a back pocket and took out a purely pink heart-shaped jewel.

"Woahh…" Sonic swooned, the light from the jewel reflecting of his emerald eyes, "That jewel is awesome… I don't even think the Chaos Emeralds reflect light so well. Can I see it?"

Rouge looked up at Sonic as if what he had asked of her was offensive. She then looked back to the jewel, then eventually said, "Sure…" and slowly held it out to Sonic. When the blue hedgehog picked up the jewel, causing it to leave Rouge's being entirely, the bat seemed to cringe. After Sonic had scanned the jewel, which did not take long, he gave it back to Rouge, who looked like a lung had been given back to her after being ripped out.

"I guess that jewel is all the world to you?" Sonic asked.

Rouge seemed to embrace the jewel as if it were a loved one and nodded, "Don't laugh. It's the closest thing I have to family."

Sonic leaned back with his hands behind his head, "I'm not laughing. I'd never understand."

"Oh." Rouge merely stated. People had laughed before at the concept of a jewel being family. She thought for sure Sonic would.

"Go on." Sonic encouraged.

"Oh! Well, I used to associate with some other… female furries and they all had jewels, too. All they would do, though, is squeal over them, then toss them away! They knew nothing about what owning jewels entailed. I was furious at them! I thought that if I gave them MY jewel, they'd break it! Somehow… I knew that only I knew the REAL value of a jewel and those others, well, they did not deserve them. I started to feel like not only this one jewel, but ALL jewels belonged to me! That way, I'd have family all over the world and not be alone any more! However, there were seven such jewels that I only heard rumors about, but was told I'd never see them… the Chaos Emeralds. I knew that my life would be complete if I could have those. As I lived with these thoughts, word spread throughout furrykind about a certain blue hedgehog who saved the world."

Sonic perked up, "I think I'm going to like this part of the story!"

"Maybe. As I was saying, word of you spread and I heard all about your adventures in thwarting the evil scientist. Most notably I heard of your ability to collect the seven Chaos Emeralds. I knew that you were something else."

"Aww, stop." Sonic waved a hand in faked embarrassment.

"I think I will." Rouge folded her arms. Sonic grinned and rolled his eyes at that, "I knew that I had to be like you in some way. Thus, I developed MY attitude and decided to become a jewel thief to reclaim all the jewels that were rightfully mine!"

"You imitate a hero by becoming a thief?"

"I didn't SAY that I based the attitude off of you! Your example merely inspired me."

-

It was a bit of time later and Vector still hadn't come back. Per that, Rouge decided talking to Sonic was better than silence.

"You know, Sonic." Rouge started, "Despite the fact that you nearly killed me in the process, that little spout of fury and sorrow because of Knuckles and Tails was rather sensitive of you. I never really thought you had it in you."

"It takes a lot to make me lose my cool. If I have any control of a situation, I can remain calm. If I have no control and something bad happens, I react accordingly."

"Now really, Sonic. I'm sure that you've felt something close to panic or despair, or at least have been flustered at any time!"

Sonic looked around, and then said, "Mmmm… nope. Save my outburst, that is."

"Oh come ON! You can't tell me that you have never been nervous about impending doom?"

"I've always had the ability to stop it!"

The door to Tails's lab opened and heavy footfalls signified the return of Vector.

"Hi guys! I brought-"

"Not now!" Rouge interrupted, "We're in the middle of something!" Then to Sonic, "So, you're saying that if you have any control over a given situation, that you can be completely calm and articulate?"

"I'm glad you finally understand!" Sonic folded his arms in triumph.

Rouge looked around for a bit, then an idea seemed to strike her just as she carried it out. She reached out and grabbed Sonic's head. She then pulled it in so that her lips firmly pressed against his.

"WOAH!" Vector blurted.

Rouge quickly pushed Sonic away, then took her own turn looking smug, "Well, Sonic. You have complete control over your reaction to that… what do you say?"

Sonic, however, could only stare blankly, muzzle ablaze in a blush, and only muttering single-syllable sounds.

"I knew it! Tough guy." Rouge grinned, and then walked over to where Vector had put down the food, "Hey, you got some instant noodles! I know what I'll have for dinner! I think I'll rest for a bit. Ciao, boys."

The bat laughed softly as she exited the room. Vector looked from the doorway where Rouge had exited to Sonic, "Wow… my back is smoother than your reaction."

"Oh, hush." Sonic muttered. He was mortified not that it happened, but more that it left him with a buzz that made him want more.


	6. U Hognapped in Chaos

**Sonic Evolution**

**Unity Story**

**Chapter 6: Hognapped in Chaos**

Emerald Town, Night Babylon, Mystic Ruins, and all related close-by places were generally peaceful and quiet. The truth about them, however, is that they were pieces of land set aside by the outlander governments for furries to live, a hope of which to keep the latter out of the hair of the former.

When Sonic goes out to run, he usually likes to keep within these boundaries. As of late, the thought of leaving furry territory when he doesn't need to has made him uneasy. Thus, when he nearly exited north out of Night Babylon, he turned around and headed straight back toward Tails's lab in Emerald Town. After confirming that there were still no more signals from the Chos Emerald tracker, he walked toward Tails's oversized computer on a whim. Rather than try to hunt down Team Evolution, which they have no way of doing, Sonic and his team decided to track the Chaos Emeralds. Team Evolution dropped the hint that they were searching for the powerful gems, so where the Emeralds were, Team Evolution would be there too.

As soon as Sonic had entered the room, as if on cue, the phone rang. Having seen Tails answer the "phone" before, he pressed on the proper button and said, "Hello?"

"Oh!" Came a high voice from a speaker that Sonic could not see, "Mister Sonic! Is Tails there?"

"Uhhh… no." The hedgehog pieced together who would call him "Mister," "Cream, is that you?"

"Yes." As if Sonic's figuring out it was Cream enabled it, Cheese's excitable chattering was heard in the background, "If Tails isn't there… then I guess what happened to him and Mister Knuckles is true?"

Sonic gave a sigh at the mention, but remained in control of his emotions, "It's true. I saw them myself."

"I'm so sorry, Mister Sonic…" The cute rabbit's voice said.

"Where are you calling from, by chance?" Sonic asked to change the subject.

"Amy's room!" Cream said, "I met with Mister Big and we went to see Amy and talk about what we saw on the news, but she isn't here!"

Once again, Sonic sighed at a wound unintentionally reopened, "Um… maybe I should tell you what happened to Amy in person."

"Okay." Cream's voice had a bit of a waver, as if she already knew what Sonic was going to tell her when they met.

Sonic pressed the proper button to disconnect, then walked out to the main room of the laboratory where a voice could carry into any corner of the building, "I'm not back for long, just wanted you all to know I came back for two seconds."

"Hold up!" Came the voice of Vector somewhere in the halls. It made Sonic kind of irritated to be speaking to disembodied voices so much. Eventually the crocodile emerged, "Where are you going? You sound like you have some place to be in particular."

"Amy's room." Vector made a little mouth noise of disdain at the mention of the bratty pink hedgehog. Despite that, Sonic continued, "I'm going to talk with Cream."

"Eh, I'll go with." Vector responded, "I'll just take the Emerald scanner with me."

"Me too!" Came the cry of their third member, Rouge the bat, "Being cooped up here does NOT float my boat!"

"If you all wish." Sonic said with a grin, "See you there."

The other two were about to ask why he said that as if they would arrive there separately, but couldn't due to the fact that the blue hedgehog was no longer there.

-

The entire short walk to Amy's room, Rouge and Vector had practiced the dirty look they'd give to Sonic for ditching them, so when that same furry opened the door for them, they let him have it.

"Come on, guys! Do you really think I'd settle for WALKING there?" Sonic said to the sour faces. They merely rolled their eyes at the overbearing personality and let themselves in.

"Oh my…" the bat muttered as she look about the room, "It's very…"

"Pink." Vector finished.

They walked forward, but also rotated around so that they could get a good look at all the pink. Rouge enjoyed a condescending smirk at an excessively large picture of Sonic, then at another embedded in the carpet, then another overlooking Amy's bed.

"Cream didn't know that Amy was taken down… she moped a bit, but cheered up knowing I'll get her back." Sonic broke into the searching.

Once he got that out of the way, he let the other two back to their fascinated search. By all means, this was most likely the most interesting room either of them had seen.

-

Vector looked at a row of pictures, most of them of Sonic. He eventually looked at a series of different pictures and even saw one of Team Chaotix as they were directly after the recent fall of Metal Sonic. He always wondered what the hedgehog girl did with that picture. The question of what she was doing with a camera in the first place never really mattered in comparison to that huge hammer, which of course Vector had met the business end of during their little scrape. "Where are you guys?" Vector asked the likenesses of Espio and Charmy. Beneath each picture was a caption. Underneath his own image, Vector saw the word "meanie" and enjoyed a good scoff.

-

"This girl needs to get a hobby." Was all Rouge could say about Amy during her tour. At one point, she passed by a desk littered with undelivered love notes all starting with "Dear Sonic," "My darling Sonic," "My lovely Sonic," "Sweet Sonikku," and things of that matter. Rouge reconsidered her earlier statement. Sonic WAS her hobby.

"Mister Sonic," Came Cream's voice from a far off corner of the room. By instinct, Rouge hid. She then thought it silly and was about to get out of her hiding place until she heard what the rabbit said next, "Why don't you like Amy?" Rouge was always up for a little gossip, so she stayed hidden and listened intently. The rabbit, her accompanying chao, and the hedgehog walked over to the same corner of the room as the bat as the latter spoke.

"Well…" Sonic looked left and right, making Rouge smirk at the futility, "I don't exactly DISLIKE Amy… it's just that, well, maybe I more dislike what she wants. You've no doubt heard, but she wants to get married, raise children, and settle down in general. Now, I'm Sonic the hedgehog, "settle down" is not a term you use in close proximity to my name unless contrasting them. I'm a guy constantly on the move, so you can see what kind of aversion I have to anything relating to love, especially one so in it with me like Amy."

"So then… you DO like Amy?" The ever-innocent Cream asked. Cheese looked from her to Sonic.

Sonic looked off into space and distorted his face into many comical expressions until finally he looked back to Cream, "I don't rightly know. I mean, sure, I like Amy as in not NOT liking her, but do I LIKE like her? I love attention, but certainly not the type that she deals! I'm kind of in-between. The way I see it, there just may be chance for something more than we have now, but if marriage and childrearing are behind it, there's no chance. She also seems to be under the pretense that our getting married is inevitable. There's a part of me that doesn't want to give her the satisfaction in the way that she envisions. Besides, if we ever got together, would is necessarily work out? If not, I couldn't imagine how she'd feel. I may appear insensitive to her feelings, but that apathy only stems from me looking out for her in the long run. Do you get what I'm saying?"

Cream seemed to think it over for a second, but then looked to the blue hero and nodded, causing her ears to fall in front of her face then back to where they originally were, "Yup!"

"Okay!" Sonic said out of having nothing better to say, "So… how about keeping this between the three of us?" He asked, including cheese.

"Just the three of us!" Cream proclaimed, excited at having a secret.

"Chao chao chao!" Cheese chattered, mimicking the gesture Cream made.

Just the four of us, Rouge thought. She wore a soft smile and rubbed her chin. So, what seemed to be acting out of fear or dislike was actually a subconscious protection! As if their little talk the other day hadn't revealed enough to Rouge about Sonic already. She guessed that there were just some things that he could only confess to a naïve little rabbit girl and not to a member of his own team. How sensitive, this urban legend of Sonic the hedgehog.

At this time, Sonic, Cream, and Cheese made their way to another corner of the room, so Rouge felt it was safe to come out of hiding. Suddenly the bow-tied chao looked behind him. There was nobody there. Cheese heeded the call of Cream and followed. Meanwhile, Rouge was hanging on to the ceiling.

"That was close." Rouge breathed. She looked as her thin gloved fingers lost their hold, "Ack!" The bat cried as she fell to the floor.

-

Vector, after some hesitation, sat on a large couch, pink and heart-shaped, of course, and began to look at the Chaos Emerald tracker. As he punched buttons to do whatever, he saw a large shadow fall over him. The crocodile looked up to see Big the cat looming over him.

"I remember you!" The large cat said with a smile, "You made fun of my friends in that forest, but you didn't mean it!"

"Yeah… that's me." Vector muttered, a bit uncomfortable.

"Amy's been gone for a while…" Big continued, not noticing Vector's discomforts, "I hope nothing bad has happened to her.

The couched crocodile looked up from the tracker, conflicted whether he should just tell Big, or perhaps Sonic was waiting for the opportunity. He decided to just keep checking around with the tracker.

It was apparent Big noticed the lack of attention he was receiving, so he asked, "What have you got there?"

Vector stood up, having had enough of this. He didn't even look up from the tracker, "You… wouldn't understand."

Big stopped smiling, "Now what do you have to go and do that for?"

"Do what?"

"People tell me all the time that I'm stupid, all because of the way I talk. I might not know much, but I'm not stupid!" It was odd to hear such a lazy and slow-speaking voice say such things and even more odd to see such a blank, simpleton-type stare become one of a little conviction.

"Uhh…" Vector trailed off, and then finally said, "I wasn't calling you stupid."

"I know," Big sighed, "I just wish people would take me more seriously sometimes. That's why I only hang out with my closest friends, because I don't care what others say about me. If anybody says anything bad about me, I know that they aren't my friends and I'm better off ignoring them!"

"Good for you!" The crocodile made a hand gesture to emphasize, "You really DO know a lot!"

"Aww… thank you!" Big scratched the back of his head, back to his old, always-smiling self.

"Seriously," Vector said after, "This is one of Tails's inventions. I'm sure you'll understand if I think that you wouldn't get it."

"Sometimes, I don't even understand what Tails is saying." The cat muttered while scratching an ear to emphasize his confusion, "Oh well… bye-bye!"

"Uhh… see you!" Vector called back as Big went into another room. At this point Vector finally noticed that Froggy had been perched on the large cat's head the entire time.

"Ribbit." Said the frog.

-

"Hey, guys!" Sonic called throughout the room, attracting the attention of all, "Cream just got a good idea. She suggested we go visit those guys in the hospital, kind of remind ourselves what we're fighting for, besides world peace."

"Sounds good!" Vector immediately responded, the words "anywhere but here" apparent between those lines.

"I guess it would do you some good to go visit Fox Boy a bit." Rouge said with still a trace of the smirk she had on earlier because she was addressing the hedgehog that was the cause of it.

Cream looked to Rouge with wide eyes, "Don't you want to visit Mister Knuckles, Miss Rouge?"

"Wh-WHAT?" the treasure hunter yelped, "That ECHIDNA? What for?"

"Um… nothing." The rabbit said quietly.

Sonic and Vector exchanged a quick grin while Big didn't even bother trying to comprehend what just happened.

-

In to Station Square hospital and back down to the furry wing, Sonic and the rest beheld the sight of Tails and Knuckles in their beds.

"They only look like they're sleeping…" Cream muttered, eyes a bit watery. She sniffed. It was one thing to be told about it, a complete other to actually see it.

"Chao chao…" Her chao called to Tails while nudging his head to no avail.

Big poked Knuckles with his fishing rod, "He's always so angry-looking and speaking loudly, but now he's not even moving. It's kind of freaky!"

At one point, Sonic was able to get alone time with the unconscious Tails.

"Hey, Buddy." The blue hedgehog muttered, rustling the tuft of hair on the fox's forehead like he always had, "I'm… sorry I totally blew it like this. Of course, if I'd have been here, I have no doubt you still be with us. It's just so weird… whenever I had a mission, I knew I could count on you to be right by my side and provide invaluable assistance. Now YOU are the mission and I almost feel like I'm all alone. …I'm going to make up for it all, no doubt about that. I have Rouge and Vector with me and I know that we can pull together and work as a team. We're called Team Unity… corny, huh? The decision was all mine and I had no clue what else to call ourselves, so I made one that I felt would symbolize US as the buddies we've been since… ever. I know we typically don't trust types like Rouge, but she has a reason to fight on our side. I promise that with this new team, the ones who did this to you will be put to justice and I'll get you back. I'll get you both back."

By the same token, Rouge was also able to be alone with Knuckles for a bit.

"Hey there, Treasure Hunter." Rouge grinned as she beheld the face of the Echidna, "That lummox was right… you always were angry-looking, and in the case of my perspective, violent and yelling. Now I see you looking so peaceful. In fact, you seem to be ENJOYING that little nap your taking. I think you need it… you dedicated your life to that Master Emerald and for what? How tirelessly you worked… I never really told you this, but I honestly think it's valiant how much effort you put into it. I guess in-between trying to steal it and the rivalry we had, I never really brought myself to think about it. Speaking of that precious jewel, don't fret. I don't think my TEAM over there wouldn't approve of me taking such a detour from the main mission. Also… I want to see your face when I, Rouge the bat, finally take that Master Emerald from you. So… don't get too comfortable, I'm ripping you right out of that little slumber paradise of yours as soon as possible!" The bat looked around and made sure no one else was looking, and then quickly gave the dormant guardian a kiss on the nose. She then quickly stood up as if she never sat down.

After all these touching reunions, things got kind of boring for all who had no one to visit. Big lumbered out the door into the main hallway of the furry wing and noticed something, that a door was swinging a bit, as if somebody had just left that room. The cat entered the room and called for anybody in the room, but nobody in that room was capable of responding.

"Hey… I know THESE guys, too!" Big's voice trumpeted so the others heard.

Confused, they moved into the same room as the purple one and the sight they beheld struck a chord in the final member of Team Unity.

"Espio!" The crocodile cried upon entering, "Charmy!"

Indeed, the said chameleon and bee were in this room, exactly in the same way that Tails and Knuckles were in the other room. Vector walked between their beds and looked from one to the other, then just hung his head. Sonic and Rouge walked to either side of their teammate to put comforting hands on his shoulders.

"WOAH!" Vector suddenly shouted, causing all awake to jump. He had suddenly spotted the Chaos Emerald tracker, still in his hand, "I had this thing on silent mode… STUPID!"

"What's wrong?" Rouge demanded.

"Look!" Vector displayed the screen, "There's a Chaos Emerald nearby… VERY nearby."

"Where?" Sonic asked, looking around. Little did he know his question was answered when a frightened yell came from a third room. Sonic whirled around. Cream was not there.

"It came from there!" Big pointed from the hallway.

Team Unity and the large cat ran into the indicated room, which, incidentally, was the room where Amy was kept, and saw Cream holding Cheese protectively while cowering. Across the room from her was a familiar face.

"What are YOU doing HERE?" Sonic demanded.

The figure looming ominously away from Cream was none other than the ultimate life form, Shadow the hedgehog. What was more odd was that one of his cuffed hands was intermingled in the female hedgehog's quills as if in an affectionate way. When he looked over at Sonic, one could tell all was not right. Shadow usually had a constant scowl, but it was absent, almost as if the black one did not know what face to wear. When he saw his blue counterpart, his face seemed to distort to surprise and fear.

"No! Not you! Not now!"

Sonic was about to try to talk some sense into Shadow, but the ultimate one had already lifted up his Chaos Emerald, the one that tripped the tracker, and used a Chaos Control without announcing. Whether intentionally or by accident, he hadn't only taken himself away.

"Amy!" The cowering rabbit called, for indeed, Shadow's Chaos Control had taken the pink hedgehog.

"Where's they go?" Big asked, not familiar with the ways of Chaos Control.

There was a moment of silence as the other three digested what just happened and designed their reactions accordingly. Sonic acted first, saying, "Vector! Does that thing still have a lock on the signal that Shadow's Emerald is giving out?"

A button press later, the crocodile looked back, "Yeah."

"Good! I'll get the Tornado and we'll follow that signal!" Immediately after saying that, Sonic took off.

Vector continued to mess with the tracker while Rouge shifted her weight nervously. Little did she ever feel sorry for anybody, but to be captured by one as powerful as Shadow? That's rough. Also, Rouge took note of the expression in the ultimate life form's eyes. Something was not right about that hedgehog. So, he was powerful AND loopy, and Amy is now at his mercy. It seemed that someone else hopped on this train of thought as Rouge looked off and saw Cream had slid down to her knees and was trying not to cry, but still sobbed heavily. The spectator bat looked around. Sonic was gone, Vector was probably back in that other room talking to his friends after that delay, and that cat was looking off thoughtfully, but he could be contemplating two plus two for all she knew.

Rouge sighed, then walked over to Cream, "Stop crying, already." The little rabbit suddenly flew forward and wrapped her arms around the bat's waist. The former agent turned red at this sudden development.

"Why are so many bad things happening?" Cream cried into Rouge's pink jacket. Rouge bit her lip; that jacket was fairly new. Cream continued, "What did we ever do?"

Cheese cried just as intensely into Cream's back, "Chao chao chao Amy chao!"

"LISTEN," Rouge suddenly placed her hands firmly on Cream's shoulders and forced the rabbit away at arm's length, "You didn't do anything! Nobody did anything! Bad people do bad things and it's up to good people like Sonic to stop them and make everything better!"

Cream stared back at Rouge and seemed to capture the bat's gaze in her large yellow eyes, "You're helping Mister Sonic to make the world a better place, aren't you, Miss Rouge?"

Rouge did not answer that right away. In general, she promoted crime and heinous acts more than well being of the common person. However, with Cream's eyes boring directly into her soul, salty tears already dampening her smooth white muzzle, Rouge couldn't bring herself to deny the rabbit, "Yeah… I guess I am… at the moment."

The rabbit blinked out tears at this, "Everybody has the ability to be good or bad… I just know that when the right time comes, anybody can be good!" Cream once again dove at Rouge, but this time out of affection.

Rouge couldn't help but smile at the overwhelming innocence of the rabbit, but then quickly forced her off again, "Okay, I get the message. You like me, I like you. How cute."

Cream giggled and wiped the last of the tears off her cheeks. On cue, the humming of the Tornado could be heard from outside.

"Let's go!" Vector declared and made for the exit.

"I'm right behind you!" The last member of Team Unity said and followed.

"Bye-bye!" Cream called.

"Um… see you later." Rouge responded, then continued on her way out. Cream smiled.

-

"We're going in the right way." Vector assured Sonic as the hedgehog drove the Tornado. The ocean passed beneath them as the destination, as indicated by Vector, was a remote island.

"Sure sounds like a good place for one to lose their marbles." Rouge commented.

"You noticed that too, huh?" The crocodile seated next to her said, "Just by curiosity, when was the last time you saw Shadow?"

"Barely after the Gizoid incident." Rouge remembered immediately, assuming Vector would know what she was talking about, "I don't really know what would make him isolate himself from the world, though."

As the other two talked about Shadow, there was another hedgehog on Sonic's mind, Amy. Before, he was under the pretense she was eventually coming back. Now, however, she was in great danger if Shadow really was suffering some kind of mental imbalance. He could hurt Amy… or worse.

That's just the way things went between the two of them, isn't it? All Amy does is love Sonic and all he offers in return is pain. Not only emotional pain, which Amy must have collected in bulk by now, but in pretty much every other pain as well. Who did Eggman send Metal Sonic to kidnap when he wanted to lure Sonic into a trap on the floating planet? Amy. Who went through heck, and the space colony ARK and back just to be by Sonic's side? Amy. Who did Eggman kidnap ON the ARK to lure him into a trap out in space? Amy. Really, Sonic wasn't giving her enough credit.

For all she's gone through, Sonic sure felt insensitive about all her hardships. Maybe, just maybe, he could try taking her seriously for once… on the condition that she relents on her chasing him. After all, the time they had spent together after Tails and Knuckles were taken down was… rather enjoyable. Sonic wanted to try experiencing like that with Amy again and seeing how it feels. Who knows… maybe if pink hedgehog could mellow out, so could the blue. Would it really be worth it to dash his creed of freedom and simplicity all for the love of another? Sonic rubbed his temples with one hand while steering with another. So much deep thought at one time was not customary for the hero. Fortunately for him, he didn't need to spend much more time alone with his mind.

"That's weird!" Vector called over the whipping wind, "I thought there was one big signal coming from that island… it turns out there were two of them close together!"

"Who else would have a Chaos Emerald and be anywhere near the location of any other Emerald?" Rouge wondered aloud.

It didn't take long before a process of thought led all three of them to the same solution at the same time, "TEAM EVOLUTION!"

"Those creeps must've tracked Shadow's Emerald, too, and gone after it!" Sonic realized, thinking only if Amy had been caught in the crossfire.

"Well, one of those signatures is gone now." Vector reported.

"Do you think Shadow was able to beat them off?" Rouge asked of her teammates.

"Far be it from me to wish well of that vain hedgehog, but for Amy's sake, I sure hope so." Sonic said for his turn of dialogue.

"I think that's it!" Vector shouted suddenly.

All three inhabitants of the Tornado looked up and over and saw a landmass in the distance. Vector checked again and indeed, the energy from Shadow's Emerald came from that specific island. Sonic shifted gears and landed the Tornado.

Once Sonic had the Tornado properly parked, he, Rouge, and Vector jumped out and began to look around at the immediate radius of their landing point. The setting was just as stereotypical as an island could get, with miles-long beautiful beaches and what appeared to be a patch of tropical forest that the island seemed to exist solely to support.

At Vector's instruction, the three of them made their away about the tropical setting toward the energy signal of Shadow's Chaos Emerald. Eventually, Vector stopped them.

"The tracker says," The crocodile paused, checked, double-checked, then nodded, "that past this brush area and some distance is where the Chaos Emerald signature is coming from."

"Do you think Shadow will attack when he sees us? I mean, we WILL ask for his Emerald, after all." Rouge said.

Sonic stepped forward, "In that case, let me go. I have the most experience tangling with him… I know his moves."

"Be careful." Vector wished.

"You should be more worried about Shadow." Sonic flashed his signature smile, then parted some brush and jumped through.

-

"Whoa!" Sonic cried as he emerged. He had expected to need to run some distance before finding Shadow, but the black hedgehog was right in front of him as soon as he came out of the brush.

The ultimate life form turned around after hearing the blue hedgehog's yelp, then grinned menacingly, "Well, well. We meet again, Blue Hedgehog."

Sonic noticed that whatever look of fear or interior imbalance existed in the prior encounter had vanished, leaving only the confident and condescending glare that he came to know and loathe.

"All right, Shadow." Sonic started, getting memories, "What have you done with Amy?"

Shadow slowly folded his arms, and waited until they were folded to respond, "At first it was an accident, but now I know that it was fate. I took her away from YOU. It seems that you can never harm her enough, however."

Sonic took a step back, completely not expecting Shadow to reply in such a way, "What is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh come now," Shadow sighed, "I know exactly the fate she suffered. She sacrificed herself expressing the most unrequited love this generation has ever known. She doesn't deserve to be put in the constant torment you provide for her. She needs to be around somebody else for a change."

The blue hedgehog couldn't believe his ears. Shadow was exposing every personal demon that Sonic had endured on the ride over. How pathetic his expression must have looked. Sonic's face hardened into one of competitive jest, "And just who do you think is better for her to be around… you?"

The surprises never stopped coming for Sonic as Shadow stalled for a bit of thought, then said, "As a matter of fact, yes. You see, I can offer her the very thing that she sought from you all her life."

"WHAT?" Sonic yelped. He was hallucinating, dreaming, SOMETHING. Did Shadow… love Amy?

"You are probably wondering what it is about her that touches me, the ultimate life form, in a place so dear. Well, as you probably know, nothing is dearer to me than Maria." Shadow looked behind, as if an apparition of Maria had appeared there, "I thought I would never see her again, but I have. In Amy. I see Maria in Amy, and I take it no less as a sign from Maria."

"You really should give that name a rest." Sonic growled, irritable, "It's pretty much every other word that comes out of your mouth… and you're going in circles!"

"Am I? Well, that just goes to show just how I feel about current circumstances."

"Listen, Shadow. I don't care about what hallucinations you're having about Maria and Amy. She has been my responsibility ever since I promised to protect her after she was taken to the floating planet."

"Yet you don't love her."

Sonic bore his teeth, "I don't know!"

"I think YOU'RE more dangerous to have her around than I am." Shadow shrugged in a superior fashion.

"Just tell me where you have her."

"I don't think so, Blue Hedgehog. She already has the ultimate life form watching over her, why give her an inferior sentinel?"

"I'm giving you one last chance, Shadow."

"You can take that chance…" Shadow then waved his arm across his body in Sonic's direction, "and cast is into the pits of depression that you dug out for Amy Rose!"

"THAT'S IT!" Sonic howled and took off on a run toward Shadow.

Shadow merely grinned, anticipating the snapping of Sonic at any point. He stood; ready to receive the blue hedgehog. At the very last moment, Shadow leapt forward, creating an arc that barely passed over Sonic. Sonic stopped and had no time to react before Shadow's feet pressed against his back and pinned him to a tree. Shadow kept balance by keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

"Now is time to finally prove my superiority, Blue Hedgehog!" Shadow called, and then activated his hover shoes right on Sonic's back.

Shadow expends his own energy to activate the hover shoes, so he needs to be just as strong as Sonic to be able to go at such high speeds. The propulsion for the hover shoes is activated by his will. Minute powerful jets work just like wheels do on roller skates except with much more power. Normally, the heat from the jets dies out before it hits the ground, but when Shadow really pushes the shoes onto a surface, the jets have no choice but to propel their flames into the said surface.

In other words, Shadow was using his hover shoes as tiny flamethrowers directly into Sonic's back.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Sonic shouted, eyes wide as the tiny flames bore directly into his body, causing the pain to rattle through his bones and every muscle.

"How does it feel to endure a humiliating defeat?" Shadow called to Sonic above the screaming. Sonic's screaming was loud enough so that another screaming from a third voice was not heard by Shadow, so when a set of teeth clamped down on his midsection, it took him by surprise.

"WHAT?" Shadow cried in the said surprise and looked down and saw a mixture of green and red. Vector had jumped from the brush and spared no amount of effort in causing Shadow the most pain possible, digging every tooth that touched the black hedgehog into the skin and causing more punctures than one could count. Sonic groaned and fell back, just in time to be caught by Rouge. Somehow, she got the impression that if he fell on the sand on his burnt back, it would not feel good.

Shadow shouted angrily for Vector to let go, but "nuh-uh" was audible from the crocodile's throat. Rather, he tightened the squeeze. Shadow's eyes squeezed shut just as tight. He never thought this was how it would end.

It didn't end for Shadow there, for a pair of large blue hands came from the other end of the area and jammed themselves into Vector's chest cavity. Vector lost all breath in his lungs and staggered back, allowing Shadow to fall into the blue hands.

"Who's there?" Rouge demanded, looking away from Sonic for the first time. She looked in a certain direction, for the blue hands were connected by thin blue arms that disappeared in more trees.

The owner of the arms emerged, walking toward his hands as he receded them. Rouge felt that in some way, in some way, shape or form, at some time, she had met this figure earlier.

"You must be Chaos." Rouge muttered, now hunched over both male members of her team.

The liquid creature laid Shadow on the ground and returned Rouge's stare. Rouge wondered why he just stood there and didn't attack. He looked too placid to be authentic, almost as if he were providing…

"A diversion!" Rouge verbally realized and leapt into the air just in time to avoid an attack from behind. The bat landed and beheld a surreal sight.

Chaos stood third figure landed. It appeared to be an orange female echidna clothed as if in ancient times. The only surreal thing about her was the large pair of white feathery angel wings coming from her back. If Rouge didn't know better, she could swear that this echidna was this "Tikal" that Sonic spoke up.

There was a tense moment where Rouge stared these two down, not knowing if she'd leave this encounter alive. Chaos looked to Tikal, then motioned toward Rouge, as if allowing her to initiate combat first. Rouge stood tense to see Tikal's first move when suddenly Tikal said, "Forgive me!" and punched the ground. The sand shifted under Rouge's feet and caused her to land on her knees. The bad looked up just in time to receive a punch to the jaw.

Rouge flew through the air until she planted her feet firmly on a tree. She had already taken two beatings; she was NOT about to lose again! She launched herself from the tree towards Tikal. Tikal seemed ready for Rouge's arrival, just like Shadow had, so Rouge switched up, changed position in midair, and went right into a Screw Kick. Tikal did not seem ready at all, and got the full effect of the attack. The bat's feet dug into Tikal's stomach, then momentum kicked in and sent Tikal into a tree, snapping it in two.

Rouge landed, panting. That was too easy. Rouge saw Chaos gone and realized it was ANOTHER diversion! Her head swung around and saw Chaos over Sonic's body. Sonic was the one holding Team Unity's only Chaos Emerald. Chaos picked it from Sonic.

"That's OUR Emerald!" Rouge shouted as she prepared a Screw Kick to Chaos. A stream of Chaos's liquid charged at Rouge, forcing her to readjust and dodge in mid-air several times. She finally got to a point where she could thrust her foot forward.

It turned out to be a bad choice as her foot and midsection sailed clear though Chaos. She stopped as her head became completely submerged in the liquid beast. Rouge thrashed around, trying to get herself out, when she saw Chaos suddenly had a head no more. The creature fell apart, but quickly reformed. Rouge gasped for air as she felt herself get carried toward another end.

"Are you okay, Rouge?" Her savior, who turned out to be Sonic, asked.

"Yeah… but he has our Emerald!" Rouge pointed. Chaos had Team Unity's purple Emerald submerged in one large hand, and Shadow's green Emerald submerged in the other.

"What… what's going on here?" Sonic asked, bewildered, "Shadow, Chaos, and Tikal together? What kind of cruel twist of fate ordained THIS together?"

"I don't now," Came the voice of Vector as he rose, "but they're going down!"

All three of them nodded and faced their opponents. Now three, as Shadow had also risen.

"DELTA STRIKE!" Team Unity shouted as they performed their appropriate tasks. Rouge created a black wave, Vector shot a stream of fire, and Sonic generated a Sonic Wind. All three of these formed into a tornado of black fire and charged at the opposing team.

The others had plans, too. Chaos stood in the middle of the three as they joined hands, Shadow's left in Chaos's right, and Chaos's left in Tikal's right. They then pounded all their fists into the sand at the same time and in unison and shouted, "CHAOS BURST!"

A large purple orb grew from where Shadow, Chaos, and Tikal stood and went to math the Delta Strike. The Delta Strike was no match for the Chaos Burst as it fizzled out, leaving the Chaos Burst to eventually collide with Team Unity. Sonic, Rouge, and Vector all hit different trees and landed in the sand. There was a moment of silence as none of Team Unity moved. Eventually, Sonic stirred and stood up before the three opponents. He was hunched over with pain and fatigue, but he couldn't give up… he just couldn't.

"Your funeral, Blue Hedgehog." Shadow said as it seemed he and his partners were ready to attack until a shrill cry stopped them.

"STOOOP!" Came the female voice. All four still conscious looked to the source, running towards them.

"Amy?" Sonic said with disbelief.

"STOP FIGHTING!" Amy shouted as she came closer, "There is no reason to fight! We're all on the same side, here!"

She stopped in front of Sonic and held out her arms to indicate she was protecting him.

"Amy…!" Sonic gasped, "How are you…!"

"Later." The pink hedgehog said sternly, then to Shadow, "Now just cut it out, okay?"

"Very well." Shadow responded. He and the other two relaxed.

Sonic's eye's once again popped at the obedience shown… or maybe they were doing Amy a favor, respecting her wishes.

Amy sighed in relief, then turned back to Sonic, then looked behind him, "What the… Rouge and that weird crocodile? What kind of messed-up team is THIS?"

"That's what I want to know about THEM!" Sonic said and motioned to the three behind Amy."

"Oh!" Amy looked back and took a better look at the team opposite Sonic, "You haven't been formally introduced. Once THOSE two get back up, we can sort this ordeal out in a civilized manner!"

-

It certainly was an odd thing to be locked in mortal combat with another group one second, then to be sitting in a circle, sharing handpicked fruits the next. This sentiment was felt all around as the said circumstance was endured by the two groups and was sternly mediated by Amy.

Sonic had two large burn marks on his back, Shadow's stomach and back were full of punctured holes that still leaked vital fluid, Vector had a pair of purple wounds on his chest, and one of Tikal's wings was folded down due to it crashing into the tree before she actually did. Chaos merely regenerated all the damage he took, leaving Rouge the best one off with a sore chin that didn't really hurt much any more.

"So…!" Amy started, shifting eyes back and forth nervously, like she was dealing with a bunch of convicts, "Um, you guys," She looked to the left half of the circle with Shadow, Tikal, and Chaos, "You can explain your origins so we can all get to know each other better!"

"I already said all I could." Shadow muttered. Amy cut off Sonic before he could say a retort, possibly sparking another conflict.

"I will explain." Tikal spoke up after a silence, "As you all know, recent events have rendered the current guardian of the Master Emerald unable to perform his duties. The Master Emerald sensed this and released my father from within itself to take the current guardian's place."

"Hold on," Vector said in a diplomatic manner when Tikal had paused, "Chaos is your… father?"

"He was not always like this." Tikal said, a bit of irritability at the subject in her voice, "He sacrificed his mortality and physical form to adequately guard the children of Chaos Energy, the Emeralds and the Chao. As I was saying, the Master Emerald summoned him, not a moment too soon as he immediately came upon a team of thieves determined to steal the Emerald."

"Don't look at me, I was with you all this entire time." Rouge spoke up before anybody could shoot her looks.

"Do you remember who they were?" Sonic asked, free to talk to anybody who wasn't Shadow.

Tikal looked to Chaos, then back, "They consisted of a Hawk that went by the name of Talon, a Raccoon that went by the name of Bandit, and…" She looked back, as if trying to confirm what he had to say next, "A… Cheetah… by the name of Ayla."

"I thought as much. Team Evolution." Sonic looked to the sand, then up again, "Wait, there was a third?"

"Yes."

"You said a Cheetah named Alya… I wonder why WE haven't seen her, yet."

"Ayla, she was the most powerful of the three of them, no doubt."

Vector made a thoughtful mouth noise, then pulled out a notebook and a pencil and began to jot notes down. All throughout current incidents, Vector had done this; this was just the most noticeable time. He gingerly put his utensils away after a bit and continued to listen.

"My father barely warded them off, then summoned me from the depths of the Master Emerald to assist. The Master Emerald granted me these wings so I may be of greater assistance in guarding the Master Emerald. However, we did not guard it for long as my father noticed that the Emerald that… Team Evolution, you called them? The Emerald's energy was moving toward this island. Using a power of Chaos Control that only my father could derive from the Master Emerald, we were able to come and help thwart those three again. In fact, that was not long ago, you three came soon after."

"Very interesting…" Vector looked off, in deeper thought than he showed.

There was a moment of silence as the story just told registered, when the one thing that Team Unity did not suspect happened, Chaos Talked.

"I used the Emerald to bring the girl back."

Chaos talked very slowly and had a deep, low, raspy voice that sounded slightly muffled, like a voice from a communicator that had bad reception.

"WOAH! You can talk?" Sonic said immediately after.

"I am not the same enraged automaton that Dr. Eggman took advantage of. When you removed the negative energy of the Chaos Emeralds from me, I regained my sanity."

"Oh…" Sonic said, regaining composure, "That's… cool. And… I guess I should thank you for what you did for Amy."

"You were worried about me? Oh, Sonic!" Amy squealed and looked to shuffle over to Sonic.

"What were they after?" Shadow cut in irritable, preventing Amy from moving from her spot, which was right next to him and away from Sonic per his conditions. "Team Evolution, I mean."

"The Chaos Emeralds." Rouge spoke up, wanting a part in this conversation. "We don't know why, but they are after them and we don't want them using them for whatever purpose they have planned."

"The power of Chaos is not to be abused in such a way…" Tikal muttered.

"Sounds like a job for us, Team Chaos!" Shadow said climactically.

"THAT is your team name?" Sonic said with an eye roll.

"Want to make something of it, Blue Hedgehog?"

"I have a NAME, you know!"

"Cut it out!" Amy scolded.

"One thing is for certain," Vector said to get things back on track, "Team Evolution must be stopped!"

"No problem." The ultimate life form spoke up, "As I said before, we will take care of them!"

"Some of us have our own reasons to pursue Team Evolution, too." Rouge said matter-of-factly.

"That harms your argument." Tikal countered, "Your vendettas against them cloud your mind with bias and rage. It's best if we take the job of collecting the Emeralds and keeping Team Evolution in check with goals as broad as ours. That way, we will not act irrationally."

"I'm capable of acting rationally!" Sonic insisted with a fiery tone that contradicted his statement. He digressed by unclenching his fist.

Chaos stood up, "We will have to agree to disagree for now. Team Evolution could be on the move now and arguing will not suppress their injustice."

"Agreed." Shadow got up, too. Tikal followed in suit.

"We were just leaving, too." Sonic got up, prompting the rest of his team to do so. "Come on, Amy."

Amy looked up in surprise, but then looked over at Shadow with indecision.

"Go with him." Shadow said, though it looked like he hurt to say it, "That's what you'd ultimately prefer. I… don't care."

As both teams started on their separate ways, Amy eventually turned around and caught up with Shadow.

"Shadow… um, thanks for caring." She then gently hugged the ultimate life form before rejoining Team Unity. Sonic shot a glare towards Shadow's back afterward.

-

The ride in the Tornado back to Emerald Town was a solemn one. Sonic, Rouge, and Vector all played the battle back in their minds, going over alternate methods and attacks they could have used. Amy sat up front and laid her head on Sonic's shoulder, which he usually told her to knock it off after she did. However, he said nothing this time. Amy didn't know whether he decided to accept her love, or maybe he was lost in the illusive fight, too. Amy thought about Shadow and how he seemed to really care for her with a love that mirrored his descriptions of how he cared for Maria. She had loved Sonic all her life, but it seemed that Shadow was the one willing to accept any love she had for him. She just let her conflicted head rest on Sonic's shoulder, not even caring to brush away a quill that the wind plastered against her face.

Vector watched the ocean go by under him and thought about more than just the fight. He fingered his notebook, though he knew its contents page for page. There was a greater mystery at hand, and not just what Team Evolution wanted to do with the Chaos Emeralds, but almost everything about the current circumstances.

Rouge was inwardly kicking herself. They had been in such a rush to leave, did they ever ask for their Emerald back from Chaos? No. Team Unity was once again left with no Chaos Emeralds. For all they knew, Team Evolution had one and Team Chaos had two. Maybe Shadow and Tikal were right… that perhaps THEY were more suited to the task at hand than the ones out for revenge. On the thought of revenge, Rouge's mind involuntarily shifted to Knuckles and viewed her revenge in a different light. She made a promise to that echidna! Well, maybe she hadn't PROMISED, but she said something along those lines. She may have developed quite a steak of activities that make her untrustworthy, but she was still true to her work, believe it or not. Rouge kicked herself again. They could have asked Chaos to come back with them and heal all those stuck in Station Square Hospital! Then again, he might not have done it, given the circumstances in which they met.

No mind was buzzing with more activity than Sonic's. He was tortured by a little bit of all the previous stated problems and then some. First, of course, was the fight. He would never feel the sting of the pain and the humiliation when Shadow so effortlessly trapped him in that position and began to puncture his back with those white-hot flames. The two burns on his back seemed to flare up with hot pain whenever he remembered it. Sonic felt stupid for rushing in so recklessly, but it WAS Shadow's fault; HE was the one who made Sonic crack so harshly. Then again, maybe THAT was the intent of Shadow's smack-talk the entire time. Maybe he DIDN'T mean all those things he said!

This transitions nicely into Sonic's next mental torture, Amy. How did SHE feel about Shadow? Did the fact that he actually gave her love affect her any? He now couldn't purge from his mind the look of indecision that gripped her face when she looked from him to Shadow, as if trying to decide whom to be with. It seemed Shadow was ready to step down. With all this effort and emotion put into it, Sonic thought that he was acting like he really DID return Amy's love… but he didn't! It must be true what they say, that one does not know what they have until it is taken away. Did he fear losing Amy's love… or her friendship? Surely if she joined Shadow, that black hedgehog would train her to hate Sonic. One thing Sonic knew is that he did NOT want Amy hating him, but then again nobody wants anybody hating them. He looked at Amy with her head on his shoulder and thought that maybe she deserved this one. She probably put herself in the MOST danger pitting herself between two violent teams. Also, the ambiguity of his feelings toward her spawned inactivity. Should he let her rest her head to show that he wasn't completely indifferent, or should he take it off to show that he still was not sure if he felt that way toward her? Sonic shook his head. He was barely making any sense. He decided to change the subject.

The mention of Ayla the Cheetah, the third member of Team Evolution, worried the blue hero as well. Tikal had said that Ayla was the most powerful of the three. Talon and Bandit were nasty enough, but now there's one even worse? Speaking of fast spotted creatures, Sonic's mind then wondered to Sheena the leopard. Cheetahs and leopards are so much alike… maybe she would know a thing or two about this Ayla person. Team Unity could use all the help they could get with Team Chaos now about. At the mention of the unnatural team, Sonic seethed. Some time in the future, Team Unity and Team Chaos WILL have a rematch and Sonic was sure that the next time, Team Chaos would experience a time of reckoning.

As Sonic's thoughts completed the round circle, the shores of Emerald Beach were visible above the horizon.

-

The walk of each member of Team Unity to their respective rooms was more of a walk of shame considering how crushing their defeat had been. Vector hadn't even made it to his room, he merely crashed onto a nearby couch, hand over the purple wounds on his chest, trying to breathe at the most comfortable pace. Rouge was able to find her way nicely, but Sonic was worse off, leaning against a wall in his room trying to cope with the white-hot knives of pain in his back.

"Sonic, are you okay?" Amy asked from the doorway.

"Yeah… just fine!" Sonic insisted, sparing no effort to look that way.

The pink hedgehog folded her arms, "How are you going to sleep? I doubt that laying on your back isn't going to be pretty for you."

"I'll manage." The blue one waved his hand dismissively.

"Stop that!" Amy scolded, "If you don't want my help or my pity, you can just say so… and you'll be getting them anyway! From what I was told, what you endured to get those burns was horrible! Let me help you!"

Sonic sighed, "What have you got in mind?"

"Sit down."

"What?"

"Just do it!"

Sonic sat abruptly on his bed, then Amy sat behind him, "What are you doing?"

"I want to feel the damage. This WILL hurt."

As gently as she could, Amy traced her finger around one of the large burns. She could hear Sonic feel the pain hard as he took a sharp intake of breath through clenched teeth. She slowly spiraled her finger towards the center of the burn when she looked closely, then gasped.

"Sonic!" She clamped a hand over her mouth roughly with shock, "Shadow burned clean through your skin! There's… there's a hole!"

Sonic sighed, "I thought as much. That jerk."

"Sonic…" Amy started, "Shadow isn't a jerk. He's just… aggressive. If you didn't lose your temper, I'm sure you guys wouldn't have started off on such a wrong note."

"… He doesn't even call me by my name. He still thinks I'm some kind of inferior fake of him."

"Maybe… but you shouldn't let this experience deter you from him. I know, deep down he is decent like you or me… he's just lived a harsh life."

Listen to her, Sonic thought bitterly, defending Shadow. Maybe it's true; that his act of affection toward her touched her in a way I never wanted to. And the way that he LET her go… isn't that the perfect set-up for the downward spiral to her hating me?

"Wait here." Amy said suddenly, and then got up. She returned shortly, "I saw this in a movie. I'll put these cold wet rags to make the burns less. They'll hurt first, but soothe after."

"It didn't happen to be a romance movie, would it?"

"Is there any other kind?"

Sonic rolled his eyes, then widened them when Amy placed the first cold rag on his back. It hurt. A lot. He gripped the sheets of the bed as the second blinding rag was placed down. The pink hedgehog held them there, pressed to Sonic's back. After what seemed like hours for Sonic, the pain subsided, and all he could feel was cool relief. He gave a peaceful sigh at the first good feeling he felt in a long time. There was a knock at the door. The hedgehogs looked toward and standing there was Sheena the leopard.

"Hi, Sonic. I just wanted to see if you had any leads as to- wha… Amy? You're back."

"Yeah." Amy merely stated.

"Look, I'm sorry for what I caused to happen to you before." Sheena apologized after losing the look of shock.

"No way!" Amy responded, "It was totally my fault! I have a reputation for acting stupid when it comes to Sonic."

"What… happened to Sonic's back?" Sheena asked, feeling awkward still standing in the doorway."

"If you help out, we'll tell you." Amy grinned.

"Deal."

-

From outside Sonic's room, Rouge looked in and saw the two girls fawning over him. She upturned her nose at the scene in typical form and walked away.

"Jealous?" A voice asked.

"WHAT?" Rouge yelped, then looked as Vector's gold chains were glistening from the shadows.

"I saw how you looked into that room with jealousy and contempt. Why don't you join them?"

"Listen, Vector," Rouge said softly, "I know it's in the style of a detective to get involved in every little thing around them, but let me say this once and with pristine clarity. BACK OFF!"

At the last two words, she poked the end of Vector's muzzle separate times. She then stormed off in a huffy fashion. Vector watched her go, and then looked into Sonic's room himself. After a while, he narrowed his eyes, then after the thought he had, turned around to do his own thing. Out of habit, he ran his tongue along his teeth.

"I'll be tasting Shadow for a while."

Meanwhile, in the room Vector took, the Chaos Emerald tracker beeped for a split second. However, it was the signal of the green Chaos Emerald, an ominous reminder that Team Chaos was on the prowl.


	7. U Boomey Boo

**Sonic Evolution**

**Unity Story**

**Chapter 7: Boomey Boo**

Amy Rose really did like not being in a coma. To be awake and able to squint into the sun or need to brush one's quills from her face was really a great feeling on a fantastic, sunny day like this. Sonic had saved her yet agiain.

Then her face suddenly fell as she realized that no, it wasn't Sonic who had saved her. She knew it before, but the full effect just hit her head-on. It was not her true love, but her true love's so-called nemesis, Shadow, who had ultimately brought her out of her comatose state. It gave her a tight feeling in her chest to finally realize this. She stared into the sands of Emerald Beach, as if the answer to her current stress was hidden inside any of those grains of sand. She knew that Sonic loved her. She didn't think so or have a hunch, she KNEW. All she had to show for this was the fact that he saved her life more than a few times.

However, now that aspect of a relationship was lost. The exclusivity of it all was nothing. For all anybody knew, by her logic, now Shadow loved her. The only difference is that the black hedgehog had actually said so... or at least something close to it. Then, by her logic, Shadow loves her more than Sonic does. Then again, it might not be so bad to be with Shadow. Sonic seems kind of out-of-touch with reality a lot, which was something she would work on when they got married. Shadow, on the other hand seemed very down-to-earth and applied utmost logic to most cases. His mean streak and aggressive tendencies were going to be something she'd work on curbing.

Amy made a sudden audible intake of breath, then used the gasp to fuel her planned exclamation, "WHAT AM I THINKING?" She howled towards the horizon, the sky meeting the water, and the sun looking paper-thin as it seemed to squeeze between them.

She loved Sonic. She would always love Sonic. Never would she hate Sonic. Sonic was her world. Then again, so was Maria to Shadow. Wouldn't Shadow feel like he would be dishonoring the memory of Maria by being with Amy? Unless...

"Amy! Hey!"

So suddenly, a very familiar voice knocked her out of her thoughts. Amy stared in disbelief, rubbed her eyes, then looked as Sonic approached. She couldn't believe her eyes. HE came to HER? She was the happiest girl in the world!

"Sonic...! Hi...!" Amy gasped, a thin ribbon of red along her muzzle. This sudden display had her flustered.

"Funny seeing you here." Her blue heart responded, "I sometimes come up to this part of the beach to watch the sunrise. Not all the time. What are the chances, huh?

"Oh."

"Oh," was right. Amy didn't know whether to feel upset or embarassed. For all she knew, she could be impeding on a very important morning ritual for him!

"So, you got the latest?" Sonic asked, still looking at the sun.

"Huh?" Amy grunted at first, unsure of what he was talking about, then once again felt stupid for temporarily forgetting the most important conflict the world currently knows, "Oh! Yes! Vector told me everything that happened since I've been 'gone.' I'm really sorry Chaos took your Emerald. I'm sure if I remembered, I would have told him to give it back."

"Don't apologize, Amy." Sonic said in his usual carefree way, "We'll get another Emerald. And besides, an Emerald not owned by Team Evolution is a good one."

"I guess." Amy drew circles into the sand nervously. This was much longer than the typical conversation she had with him. Usually she would make some kind of forward comment, causing the blue hero to dash away, maybe screaming. Perhaps the key to chasing her hero was to not chase him at all. She wanted to see where this went, "So, do you guys have any plans?"

"None beside waiting for the Emerald tracker to pick up something. Where the Emeralds are, Team Evolution will be. Then we can beat out of them how we can get the others back in the waking world."

"I hope that's soon." Amy swooned a bit, she loved it when Sonic got all heroic like that.

"Me too." Sonic said softly, laying both his hands down and leaning back on them.

Amy looked at Sonic's bare hand and gently laid hers down a distance from his. Then, slowly but surely, she slid her hand accross the ground, awaiting the warm bump of Sonic's hand.

"Hey, Sonic!"

Sonic leapt up and looked to the source of the call while Amy, with no hand to stop her own, completely slid over, landing on her side and wearing a surprised expression. Perched on the top of a tree was Rouge.

"What's up?" Sonic asked, shielding his eyes from the sun.

"Our unofficial master of the Emerald tracker says that we had a signal, and it could reappear at any time!"

"Cool! I'm there!" The blue hero looked to Amy, "See you later, Amy. It was nice talking to you."

Amy stood up as she watched Sonic speed off. "It was nice talking to you?" Ever since when was it nice to talk to her? Amy giggled, giddy that she might have found the way to her true love's heart. She was about to leave, herself, until she saw the shadow cast by Rouge was still there. She looked up to see the former agent looking back down. Rather than getting indignant, Amy felt a little creeped out by the indecipherable stare. Thus, she was relieved when Rouge excused herself with a condescending "humph," leaping back gracefully and spreading her wings to take flight.

-

Vector tapped a couple of keys on Tails's large computer before turning away in a dismissive manner. Waiting for him in the main social room of the lab were Sonic and Rouge.

"Ah, I see you're all here. And in time too-"

The main doors slammed and a dash of pink entered the room, "I'm here!"

There was a bit of a silence, then Vector, "Since when was she part of the team? Nobody tells me anything."

"You ARE third in command out of three." Rouge muttered in a superior fashion.

"I thought we agreed there were no ranks." The crocodile responded, "Isn't that what you decreed, Sonic?"

Sonic shrugged. A large BEEP, startled the four of them to attention.

"Is it a live one?" Sonic asked, looking in vain toward the tracker.

"Funny you should use the word 'live.'" Vector chuckled after locking on to the Emrald's signal.

"Dare I ask why?" The impatient bat interjected.

Vector tapped a key, then looked back up, "It seems our Emerald is inside a supposed haunted house!"

"Haunted?" Amy gasped.

"Aww," Rouge cooed, "is the little pink hedgie afraid of a little ghost?"

"I've tangled with ghosts before," Sonic rubbed the top of his finger under his nose in typical fashion, ending with a thumbs-up, "no problem!"

Amy inwardly growled. That bad bat! Was she trying to relate to Sonic just to spite her? Well, if that was her game, she had another thing coming!

"I was only asking for clarification, for your information!" Amy huffed, "And I was loud because I'm so excited to help you all out!"

"Well yes... it's haunted. Thanks for asking." Vector muttered, then another BEEP sparked an identical start in them all, "We won't be alone!"

This time Vector held the tracker for all to see.

"Green?" Rouge observed.

"Team Chaos..." Sonic seethed, "Let's go!"

Rouge didn't patronize Amy enough to not share a concerned look with her and Vector. They hadn't exactly seen Team Evolution's blue Emerald on that tracker. Sonic's "Let's go!" had "vendetta" written all over it.

-

The Tornado touched down on soil and foliage. All inside jumped out and turned their attention to a large, black, ominous mansion with four large towers on each corner sticking out.

"In there?" Sonic pointed.

Vector tapped some keys on the tracker, then nodded, "In there."

As they approached the rotting structure, it didn't take long for some familiar faces to be seen.

"Oh!" Tikal called when she turned and saw the other team, "Unity!"

"What?" Shadow growled and turned around, causing both teams to face each other down.

Amy sagely stepped in front of them, "All right, enough awkward silence! There is NO direct competition going on here, so let's focus on the task at hand! Maybe we can all cooperate!"

"There is an evil prescence contained in this building." Chaos hissed slowly, "It is best to let Evolution attempt to obtain this Emerald. They run a chance of perishing."

"No way!" Sonic waved his hand, "Letting one of them draw from the power of the Chaos Emeralds is stupid enough, but to let them double their strength? This isn't a risk we can afford to take."

Shadow made a condescending mouth noise, "For once you are right, Blue Hedgehog. however, the more fit team to take on this task shall accomplish it. If you wish to risk your life to certain doom, then feel free. Let's go!"

With that dismissal, Team Chaos made their way around the others present and had vanished into the horizon, but were surely making their way into the mansion.

"Concieted jerks." Sonic growled.

Amy emitted a concerned whimper for her love, but knew he was too sore emotionally from the last fight to be pleasant with Shadow any time soon. The Emerald tracker beeped once more, as if taking it upon itself to remind the foursome of the Emerald they were persuing. It took Vector's strength to pry open the double doors leading into the mansion.

-

Once inside, Team Unity and Amy looked around at the stereotypical house, complete with more doorways than one could count and two stairways leading to one long platform that had two more stairways coming from it and leading to the second floor of the same room. Once they were all in, the double doors slammed shut, causing much of the light to leave.

Amy yelped, then turned to Vector, "Did you have to close them so hard?"

"I didn't close them!" Vector responded, making Amy shiver a little at the thought they closed on their own. Vector found a torch and tossed one to Sonic, both males finding their ways to light them.

"This reminds me of that Hang Castle place..." The pink hedgehog muttered.

The beeping from the tracker ceased. Vector tapped the tracker in a jarring fashion, then sighed, "Stopped giving out signals... we'll have to loook around."

"No problem!" The optimistic Sonic said, "Just look through all these doorways and see if we can find any leads!"

"You mean... split up?" Amy said slowly.

"Um... yeah."

"You haven't watched very many horror movies, have you, Sonic?"

"Um... no."

"We'll split up into teams of two, then," Rouge sighed, then quickly added, "Since you are on that side of the room with Vector, you can be with him. Sonic and I will look through the doorways on the other end."

"Sounds like a plan." Sonic confirmed.

A blue streak ran its way down from Amy's eye, then was replaced by a red popped vein. Rouge WAS trying to spite her!Rouge would get hers one day... she'll see. She'll be doing something shifty and it will be Amy Rose who points out that bat's untrustworthiness to Sonic! Amy looked over at Vector, all business, looking through a doorway, when she saw something that made her gasp, a transparent white ball with black eyes!

"YEEEK! WHAT IS THAT?"

"What's what?" Vector asked as he ran over, then looked at the direction Amy's shaking finger was pointing to, "There's... nothing there."

Amy peered through her fingers, "Huh... no! I swear I saw something!" She then tugged Vector's arm, "Please! You're the most sensible one of us all! You of all people should know that when somebody claims to have seen something freaky, that it is more dangerous NOT to believe them!"

"Or..." Vector yanked his arm out to raise a condescending finger, "This place's reputation is just getting to you. There's a remote possibility that there ARE no ghosts here!" On cue, the same white puff landed on Vector's muzzle. It was like a white blanket was draped over an arcane ball with tiny arms, and two large eyes that looked like large tears in the blanket and were all black, "Make that... an IMpossibility."

"Take this you spiteful specter!" The pink hedgehog shouted and whipped out her Piko Piko Hammer. With a shout, she thrust the large-headed weapon at the ghost.

"Chirchen?" The ghost chirped, then calmly lifted itself upward. The Piko Piko Hammer continued on its course, slamming into Vector's muzzle and pinning it to the floor for a couple of seconds.

"I missed!" Amy cried out.

Vector stood up and rubbed his sore nose, "Nope... you got me."

"It's getting away!" Amy shouted and made chase with her hammer.

Vector sighed, "How is THAT thing going to stop a ghost...? Hey! Wait up!"

-

Meanwhile, Sonic and Rouge explored the dank halls of the mansion elsewhere.

"Scared any?" Sonic asked, turning around and pointing the torch at Rouge.

Rouge grinned and folded her arms, "You kidding me? Darkness is my element!"

"You say that now... but one time I was in this huge pyramid with a couple of ghosts..." The blue hegehog placed the torch under his face, causing a well-known shadowy effect on it, "...and they were friendly ghosts... at first. There was this sun roof, see, and it was wide open, showing us the sun." Rouge rolled her eyes in a bored fashion, making Sonic grin at her skepticism, "However, as time passed, the sun roof would close. The sun would slowly leave us and the ghosts would begin to feed on the darkness." To illustrate, Sonic held his other hand out horizontally, then slowly drew it toward the hand gripping the torch, which got Rouge's attention, "As the sun faded, the ghosts grew bigger, and not only that, but scarier. They got fangs, horns, and eyes that burned holes into you!" The hedgehog pantomimed out these things with odd detail. He brought his face closer to Rouge's, "Then... you hope it never happens, but all you can do is see it play out in front of you. The sunroof closes all the way. With a deafening thud!" He slammed his horizontal hand against the fist holding the torch, making Rouge jump. he then looked down and chuckled softly, "And when that happens... when it happens... heh heh heh..."

Rouge put on a concerned look. He was officially creeping her out, "Sonic?"

Sonic immediately thrust his head up. His eyelids were pulled back into their sockets and he had no pupils, "YOU BELONGED TO THEM!"

"AAH!" Rouge yelped and leapt back. When she landed, she popped a vein as she heard a more Sonic-like laughing.

Indeed, Sonic had pulled his eyelids back to normal and unrolled his eyes and was laughing, "Of course, that only happened to me once. I quickly found a switch to open the sunroof again. However, it was a pretty scary couple of seconds. You should have seen your face!"

Rouge forced an angry smile, "Yeah... you really got me there, Sonic. If I ever saw any ghosts like that, I'd give 'em a screw kick in the face! Even if they do exist, a ghost is only scary if you let yourself fear it!"

"Actually, that's a pretty good creed to live by!" Sonic nodded.

Their conversation unexpectedly fell flat and they were left only to semi-awkwardly look at each other, emerald eyes to emerald eyes, only lit by the torch Sonic held. There was actually a bit of a mood until there was a squeak from behind a doorway. Both hedgehog and bat swerved their heads toward the sound, then flattened themselves against opposite sides of the doorframe.

"Think it's Team Evolution?" Sonic said quietly. He looked as it seemed torch light was coming from the other side.

"Can't be Vector and that girl." Rouge muttered.

"Okay... on three. One..."

"Two..."

"HAH!" They both yelled as they jumped past the doorframe in battle stances.

"Wah!" Cried a female voice.

"Huh?" Rouge grunted, then pulled Sonic's torch in front, "Not YOU, again!"

Sheena the leopard pitched her own torch forward, "What is that supposed to mean? I'm trying to help! Team Evolution was going this way and I followed them in here! I knew it would be a matter of time before you guys showed up!"

Sonic grinned, "The more the merrier, right Rouge?"

"Right." Rouge growled between her teeth, trying her hardest to convey she did NOT want Sheena with them.

Unfortunately, her signals were lost on him in his playfully naive mood. He led Sheena through, almost entirely forgetting about Rouge. There goes her alone time with Sonic. She quickly realized that she had no torch to light her way and shouted for them to wait up. At least, she would have, had a harsh blow not come from behind and knocked her down.

"Wait, Rouge!" Sonic said with a start and leapt back. Sheena seemed reluctant to follow, "What the?"

He brought his torch foward and saw Rouge on the ground, behind her a red-faced Amy and Vector, looking down in humored disbelief.

"I thought I saw the ghost! It's not my fault she has a white head." Amy defended herself.

Sonic lifted the torch toward Amy, "What ghost."

Amy tried to describe, "The, uh, the... the- THAT ONE!"

Sonic wirled around and came face-to-face with the same ball of ectoplasm that had caused Amy to smash Vector in the face. There was a tense moment in which all, including a newly recovered Rouge, watched the ghost for any sudden movements.

Tense, that is, until Sonic smiled.

"Hey there, little guy!" The others fought the urge to fall over out of disbelief, but surprisingly enough, Sonic was soon stroking the ghost in a friendly fashion, "Check it out! As long as we have a light source, he's completely harmless!"

"Just like the sun roof." Rouge said softly.

Amy frowned, "What sunroof?"

The bat grinned. He never told Amy that story? Interesting...

"I'll call him Boomey!" Sonic smiled widely and tickled the newly dubbed Boomey, laughing.

Vector cleared his throat, "Maybe, um, 'Boomey' can help us find the Chaos Emerald in this location!"

"Good idea!" Sonic commented, then looked to Boomey, "Hey Boomey, have you seen any Chaos Emeralds recently?"

"Chirchen?" Boomey chirped, and tilted its entire body to the side. Sheena seemed to shift her weight nervously.

"Jewel?" Rouge tried helping.

"Shiny?" Sonic continued.

Vector sighed and stepped forward, holding out the Emerald Tracker, "Have you seen THIS?" The tracker displayed the image of a Chaos Emerald. Boomey looked into it.

"Chirchen!" The little ghost chirped merrily and faced a certain direction, then took off.

"I think he's got something!" Sonic said merrily and followed.

-

Boomey kept an apparently clear path beaten through the cavernous halls of the mansion while the five followers stayed in close proximity, mostly to keep their torches on him.

"Chirchen!" The miniature ghost chirped at last when it came to a door.

"'The room of a directly proportional amount of trials.'" Rouge read from a nearby sign.

"What does that mean?" Sonic scratched his head, "Math never was my strong point."

"It doesn't really specify what the amount of trials is directly proportional to..." Vector shrugged, "kind of hard to decipher."

Sheena bit her lip, "Does that door really contain 'trials?' What if they're those kinds of trials that test how good a person is and only lets them by on that basis?"

Amy nudged the leopard, "We shouldn't have any worries, then! We all know we are good of heart! Well... MOST of us at that rate."

"Ouch." Rouge muttered sarcastically.

"Chirchen!" Boomey chirped before phazing through the door.

"Woah! Hold your horses there!" Sonic called after, opened the door, and ran through, causing all else to pile in.

-

Nobody waited for, nor caught up with Sonic on the other side of the door. Rather, the next room was a completely empty dining hall. He waited for a couple of seconds, then when nobody came through the door he just entered through, was fed up with all the waiting and walked forward a bit.

"There you are!" Sonic yelped after a time of walking, then jogged over to where Boomey was floating, looking on into the distance, "What was with the rush, anyway? Heh, never thought I'd ever ask that question."

The minute ghost turned around, then tilted its entire body left, examining Sonic. It then shrunk back, and pointed with a stubby arm, "Chirchen?"

"What are you...?" Sonic began when he looked behind and saw what, "No way!"

As if they had materialized out of thin air, an army of flying robots, robo-magicians, GUN beetles, and even some classics like dragonflies had littered the airspace of the room. Sure enough, a line of them parted to make way for their most obvious ringleader, afloat in his Egg Carrier.

"Eggman!" Sonic declared, "You're behind all of the nonsense going down lately, aren't you? I bet Team Evolution is your doing!"

The good doctor scoffed, "I have no clue what you are talking about! I merely saw you and your motley crew of friends enter this haunted house and thought it to be a good place for an ambush! Notice how you are all alone?"

Sonic's face flushed for all of two seconds, "What have you done with my friends, you bad egg!"

Eggman fingered his mustache, "You know what, I won't tell you, for you shall be sharing their current condition in a moment! Or maybe, I'll just detroy you right here!" To accompany these claims, the robots began to edge forward, awaiting their master's call, "Notice my masterful manipulation of the GUN's machines? Difficult to break apart their coding, but once I did, I found them to be quite formidable machines, and under my command and reprogramming, they will be a force to be reckoned with, even for a blue rodent such as yourself!"

On cue, one of the beetles shot forward a bullet. Sonic dodged it as expertly as he could, but ended up flailing away rather than making a graceful leap. He landed, adrenaline rushed from that sudden and sonic-speed attack.

"Man!" Sonic gasped out of awe, "I barely saw that coming! You've outdone yourself yet again, Eggman!" Sonic moved to normal standing position as Eggman took the moment to chuckle, then give his trademarked laugh, actually filling Sonic with an uncharacteristic sense of trouble.

The room full of robots seemed to rotate about the blue hero. The GUN beetles reared their guns and cannons, aiming squarely at the hedgehog in the middle of their primal circle. The wizards held their staffs forward, ready to deliver harsh blows or heal their comrades in metal. Just now, E-1000s began to appear from behind the crowd, accompanied by more of Eggman's and the GUN's robots. Boomey slowly slid behind Sonic, giving a frightened chirp. Sonic bore his teeth as his observations came full circle. This was not going to be easy.

"Well?" Eggman smugly remarked, hovering above the soon-to-be scene.

Sonic growled, then used his borne teeth to grin, "You bloated egg! It doesn't matter, now what happens! I will never give up the fight!"

"I hoped so!" Eggman howled, "Get him!"

Sonic didn't wait for any robot to advance on him. He decided to be the one to start. He took off on a run to the nearest robot and leapt, aiming a kick that would rip the robot apart. Much to his surprise, his foot sailed clear through the robot as if it were not there.

"What?" Sonic yelped, then landed. He whirled around to face an attack from behind only to see none coming.

In fact, the room was once again empty.

Sonic's afore shout still echoed throughout the room. He looked around. No robots, no Eggman, nothing. As if to remind Sonic that HE existed, Boomey emerged from behind Sonic's back. Sonic smiled at the ghost for a second, then returned to a befuddled stare about the room. Was this a ploy by Eggman to make him lower his guard? If so, it was a bit much, even for Eggman. Maybe the rotund doctor realized that his army would have been reduced to scrap and just left. But wait! He still probably had his friends! He had to find them!

"Chirchen!" Boomey yelled, then floated in a direction.

"Hey! Hold up!" Sonic called. Maybe Boomey felt the same and wanted to find the rest. Boomey stopped in front of double doors. "Are they in there?" Sonic asked and looked around, then saw a plaque on the wall. He looked at it out of split-second curiousity, reading it aloud, "In the face of danger and almost certain peril, sentience tends to resort to despair. It takes one of a truly strong heart and heroic resolve to not only give up, but to even keep faith in themselves and that everything will turn out well in the end. Keeping one's resolve is, most often, the way to make a loss into a victory." Sonic reflected on these words, then wore a face of disbelief, "This was all one of those 'trials?' It's a bit excessive, if you ask me. But hey, if I passed, I passed. That means that the others aren't in trouble after all! Come on, Boomey!"

With an excited chirp that was happy for Sonic, Boomey floated forward and kept up with Sonic as he pushed the doors opened and ran into the following hallway.

-

Usually, darkness was Rouge's element. Pitch-darkness, however, really tested her abilites as a bat. She had come to use her eyes so often that her inherent and little-known ability to echolocate had gotten rusty. She really shouldn't have let the others hold the torches. Well, it made perfect sense, as they were all close together, bust suddenly she had been separated from the rest, and not just some, but ALL of the rest. How was that possible? They only went through a little door!

"How inconsiderate of them all!" Rogue huffed as she walked through the darkness, letting her words bounce off of anything in her path and return, painting a picture of the immediate area for her, "They insist that I'm supposed to be one of them, yet once we get separated, they make no effort to try and find me! Some team!" Rouge continued to talk to herself to maybe find a way out and into a room with some way of lighting, "I'm glad I didn't invest so much emotion into this so-called team, if I had, then just maybe my feelings would have been hurt by this unsightly circumstance! It's not like they extended their frienship to me, or anything. I bet they only see me as a means of getting their precious fox boy and ECHIDNA back! Well, that's fine with me! I hope that Knucklehead it groggy after waking up, then I can take his Emerald and be done with them all once and for all! And best yet, I would need nobody's..."

The white bat didn't finish her thought as the floor gave way from beneath her. In an odd coincidence, Rouge yelled out the last word of her sentence, merely from surprise, shouting out a resounding, "... HELP!" which could have passed for a call of a one in need. Rouge highly resented the floor causing her to shout such a thing, as if she needed any help. She caught the side of the hole, after all, and only needed to pull herself up.

Truth be told, she actually did need help. Sure, she was hanging and posessed the upper body strength to pull herself back up, but some force was keeping her from rising any, like a dark hand took hold of her and tugged down just as hard as she pulled up.

"There you are!"

Rouge saw a light approaching and felt the distant heat of torches until they came right next to the hole. Rouge willed herself not to see several staring faces looking at her in this moment of need, but cast a look back upward and, sure enough, the remaining members of her team and their two cheerleaders all occupied a corner each of the view. "Couldn't you pull yourself back up?" Said the blue leader.

"Gladly!" Rouge grunted, then gave another mouth noise of effort as she strained her thin arms to pull herself out of the hole, but was dismayed to feel that same tug keep her at the same place still.

Looks were exchanged amongst the other four. "If I didn't know better," Sheena scratched the back of her head, "I'd say she needs our help."

"Nah," Said Amy, the first of the four to talk earlier, "She always gets by fine by herself. And if she can't, then do we really need her?"

"WHAT?" The hanging agent yelped and redoubled her efforts to pull herself up. All she wanted in life was to pull those pink, frilly little quill bangs until that pink, frilly little hedgehog screamed loud enough for even Knuckles to hear. With a shout, then an eventual half-moan of submission, Rouge tried again to pull herself up, but failed yet again.

Amy clicked her tongue in pity. The rage was almost enough to tinge Rouge's fur red. A harsh clearing of the throat from the oldest of the five stopped Amy. "That's not very nice," Vector lectured, "Whether you like it or not, Rouge is part of the main team, Unity, and, in effect, one of us."

"Yeah." Sonic continued, following up by extending his hand down the hole, "Now come on and just take my hand, Rouge. I for a fact know that this mansion is capable of weird things. If you told me that you're inability to pull yourself up is not your fault, then I'll totally believe you."

"If it's some kind of ghastly trick, you might need my help, too." Vector spoke again and also held out his hand.

"We're wasting time... Team Evolution could be hot on the trail of the Chaos Emerald by now." Sheena said, oddly businesslike, and held out her hand.

Amy sighed, "Despite every fiber in my being, I have my priorities... and a friend of Sonic is a friend of mine. Just get this over with." The pink hedgehog then extended her own cuffed hand.

Rouge could not believe what she was seeing. Four whole hands extending not only their assistance, but their own way of an offer of friendship. Her feelings turned a complete one-eighty. Isn't this what real friends do, help each other out in times of need without gaining anything besides satisfaction at helping out this friend in question? How funny. Even when she thought over the situation in a hypothetical way, she referred to herself as a friend.

Something snapped in the bat and she let go with one hand. "Guys..." She said in a low voice, then reached for the nearest hand with her free one. "Thanks."

And just like that, Rouge was no longer hanging in a hole in the floor.

But she had not been pulled up. No, it was more like a flash and the split second after accepting her fate as one of a team, Rouge was back on solid floor. She was even in the same position she had been, one hand in the air as if grasping an edge and another hand reaching to the cieling, as if grabbing for a helping hand. Rouge felt stupid standing in that way, and acted upon it by immediately returning her hands to her sides. Just what had happened?

A door came into view that most certainly had not been there before. Rouge approached it, the warning of falling through the floor "again" nagging in the back of her mind, but never really acting upon it. Once she got to the door, a plaque, nailed on the door high enough for Rouge's eyeline, shone brightly. Rouge felt she had to read it.

"When a problem in relations arises, one must consider what must change for everything to work. Even if they are not at fault for the problem, there is never nothing they can do to repair, or even start on getting to win and influence those around them. They must look into themself and find any wrinkle in their personality that would be arguably the source of the problem and try to smooth it out, often before circumstances are too late to change. Oh, brother." Rouge folded her arms, "I get it. I passed this 'trial' because I accepted the help and friendship of those illusionary 'friends.' That is so typical."

The bat then pushed the door open and walked through, a bit sore at having gone through all that just to prove to a mansion that she was capable of accepting others... at the time.

-

Whereas his team members would have gotten confused at this sudden separation, as Vector found himself completely alone after going into the room of trials, the crocodile knew full well that the separation was part of his own trial. When he passes, no doubt he'd see his team again.

It was logical, and logic was what Vector had lived by. Sure, in the past he seemed a bit out of touch with the world and completely into his stereotype as the gruff private detective, but current circumstances called for a bit of seriousness. Thus, Vector was free to show a side that even Espio and Charmy did not know too well.

Last time, it was a routine takeover of the world. This time, Team Evolution was a force to be reckoned with and they did not kid around. They just did everything they could to take out the competition before anything real happened. Along with his default sense of justice and tendency to stick his scaled nose where it did not belong, Vector had a little vendetta to settle, as his two aforementioned buddies were now comatose thanks to that raccoon and eagle... and cheetah, apparently.

What was up with that third member, anyway? If she was only reserved for when she was needed, then Team Unity was more further in than they realized. Chaos had said that this "Ayla" character was the most powerful of the three, and that sure would be saying a lot, judging from what they had seen of Bandit and Talon.

Vector looked at the Emerald tracker as he ran through this new hall, seeing that it still registered a signal. He followed the signal, he'd find Team Evolution, he would squeeze from them how to get back Espio and Charmy, not to mention Sonic's friends. A nagging feeling told him that there was more to this. Much more. There was a bigger underlying mystery, nay, conspiracy, and he just had no leads besides the superficial conflict, and even the mystery of Ayla the cheetah.

Team Evolution was very tight-lipped about their intentions with the Chaos Emeralds. Perhaps if he put his mind to finding out this alterior motive, then Vector could head off the villainous team without having to beat them to every Chaos Emerald. Well, at least they had help. That pink hedgehog Amy sure seemed eager to help Sonic, along with those other two, the rabbit and the gargantuan cat. And, lastly, the newcomer to the Sonic style of adventure, Sheena the leopard.

What was up with Sheena, anyway? Other people can meet new allies in peace, but not Sonic and all associated. No, something was off about Sheena. Maybe...? No... too obvious, if one were to look at the scene from an exterior perspective. There was the possibility that Sheena COULD just be a bystander who wanted to get involved... but that was just on the opposite end of the spectrum, impossible to even take seriously.

A door appeared at the apparent end of the hallway. Vector, ever the observant one, took notice of a plaque on the wall and read it aloud, "A message is a versatile thing. It can contain information, instruction, or perhaps a riddle. To say that the before statement is true vice versa need not apply all the time. Though not all the time, some of the time is still possible. A riddle can contain a message if intended to be read as such, between the lies, or if the source of the information saying that it is a riddle is merely lying. Could a riddle contain a message about a riddle? Perhaps."

Even Vector had to scratch the back of his head after reading that. It was cryptic, to say the least. He took out his trusty notebook and began to jot notes. Just because this plaque talks about riddles, it doesn't necessarily mean that the riddles have to be contained within the same area as where the riddle was presented. A wide smile appeared on Vector's face. He was starting to sound like that plaque. Once he was done jotting down possible meanings for the plaque's message, as well as their relevance to his mind wanderings before meeting the plaque, he pushed the door open. His individual trial was done with, but the larger trial encompassing so many more had yet to begin.

-

"Sonic!" Amy Rose, in typical form, shouted once she found herself alone. Even if everybody else was with her, she probably would have called out his name still, for he truly was the only one she needed with her. The pink hedgehog continued to weave through doors and around rooms, trying to reclaim sight of her blue hero. Every door she opened or corner she turned was another chance to perhaps see the familiar silhouette of a hedgehog from the pale sun that filtered through the poorly maintained windows.

And around a particular bend, Amy got her wish... but in the most unfortunate way possible. A thick beam of light struck the ground right where Shadow the Hedgehog stood.

"Well." The crimson-eyed figure muttered, "I honestly expected that blue hedgehog or one of his friends to come around that corner. I guess I got my fighting spirit all riled up for nothing."

Amy considered being passive, but that just wasn't her style, "Just what do you have against Sonic, anyway?" She walked over to Shadow, the light bathing him making him seem intimidating, "You both teamed up to save the world from the ARK! Not to mention you graciously helped out in giving him enough time to gather power to defeat Metal Sonic. One would think that you would have made friends by now."

Shadow folded his arms, "I will agree with you about the incident with the ARK, but I haven't a clue what you mean by the second instance. Who, or what is Metal Sonic? Sounds like something Eggman would make."

"He is!" Amy yelped, but then took a few seconds to regain her composure. "Listen, the fact is that you and Sonic are more alike than you guys think. And I don't just mean in the fact that you are the same species and look a lot alike. Deep down inside you are both on the same side of the fight. Why must you make everything such a rivalry?"

"To be honest," Shadow closed his eyes irritably, "That was a possibility. We had a bad start is all. It's not my fault the first thing he did when he saw me was attack. By all means, I am not responsible for the sour moods we share with each other."

With a "hmph," Shadow turned ninety degrees to dismiss the topic. And by all means, it had been. There really was no way for Amy to discuss her way out of that circumstance. If Sonic had attacked, then there was no civil way to go about it. That only raises the question... why did Sonic do something so rash... even for him? Could it have had something to do with her state of being at the time?

To dispel the current silence that plagued them both, Amy took Shadow's team into account, "Where are the other two?"

"Ahead," Shadow merely said, "I was trailing until stopped by you. Come, we can catch up together."

"Together?" Amy squeaked, adopting a stance of one completely caught off guard, "You had better not be getting fresh with ME, mister!"

Rather than ask why Amy was so defensive, Shadow was actually able to infer why and moved on to a new question, "When will you give up on Sonic?"

Again, Amy was taken by surprise on so many levels. First of all was the question, of course. Give up? When she was so close to achieving her goal? And she took notice at how the ultimate one actually used Sonic's name, indicating that he took the question it was used in very seriously.

"I have no reason to give up on Sonic!" The pink one snapped, knowing well it was a weak comeback.

"If not give up on HIM... then perhaps... open your possibilities?" Without waiting for how Amy would react, Shadow's boot thrusters activated, propelling him forward.

Even if he had waited, not much would have been there for Shadow to look at. Amy would have remained standing, stunned at the closing remark, her mouth hanging open, disregarding any outside anomolies for a long time. When she was done gawking at where Shadow used to stand, Amy looked down in confusion. Open her possibilities? That would only confuse her sweet Sonic and make him think that her world was any thing but him solely. It was a rule of dating, or at least she heard, to have a backup plan in case plan A did not go swimmingly. Amy, however, felt she did not need a plan B, for her plan B was to keep at her plan A until it worked! But still...

Was Shadow trying to say something, perhaps promote himself for Amy with that remark? Open her possibilities... to him? She didn't even LIKE Shadow! Well, she didn't NOT like him, but she didn't LIKE him like him... Did she?

All of these add-ons! Couldn't she just finish a thought or tie up a loose end without two or three words messing everything up? Standing there like her shoes were melted into the ground wasn't going to solve anything, so Amy walked forward to a door in the distance. When she reached it, a plaque was built into the ground, as if anticipating that she would be hanging her head at that exact moment. Amy's eyes widened at this odd coincidence and had to read this opportunistic plaque.

"Why offer a trial when one's own thoughts are a constant trial?"

So is that what the sign all that time ago meant, that this mansion was magically capable of making trials to prove one's worth? Was Shadow merely an apparition for the purpose of a trial? Amy considered what the plaque said, then narrowed her eyes at the engraved words. The mansion didn't GENERATE its own trial... it saw that her life was complicated enough! Should she be flattered at the possibility that the mansion took pity on her, or insulted at the possibiliy that the mansion was laughing at her? Not another unanswerable question... Amy shook her pink head and just pushed the door open.

-

A nondescript hallway lead to a room with dozens of doors. Path this room, another nondescript hallway leads back out. All five of the furries, one with a ghost riding shotgun, who entered the particular room earlier emerged in this multi-doored room each from different doors. Needless to say, they were all surprised to see each other. In fact, they all remained in a solemn silence, for they all knew that some odd event was behind each and every one of them. Not even Boomey gave out a chirp, but merely kept looked from Sonic, to the rest, and back to Sonic again until somebody said anything.

Sonic was the first to speak, "How about... we just don't talk about what had just happened?"

"Agreed!" Chorused the other four, all of the females in much more of a hurry to dismiss their respective events than the lone male crocodile amongst them who, in all rights, had nothing to hide from his trial.

Just to make sure no awkward silences dominated again, Vector cleared his throat, "I guess that the 'room of proportionate trials' referred to how many enter the room. Five of us, five trials. Unless..."

"No," Sonic interjected, knowing Vector's side thought, "Boomey was with me the entire time."

"There you go. Five trials." Vector nodded as if figuring that out solved every other problem in the world.

"Chirchen!" Boomey declared, breaking the shell shock and charging forward.

"How many times is he going to do that?" Sheena asked wearily.

"As many times as needed if it means beating Team Evolution to the Chaos Emerald." Sonic took off after Boomey again, prompting the following of the rest.

-

The preceding hallway was dark. Quite dark. So much in fact that Sonic had to tell Boomey to wait up until torches were reclaimed, for all held torches were lost in the trials. Finally Vector and Rouge returned, each with a torch in hand and all was set for further exploration.

Entering the next room showed several doorways out. Five voices went up in a chorused moan at their misfortune.

Amy sunk to her knees, "I HATE THIS PLACE!"

"We need some kind of map to get through here." The white bat of the five huffed.

Amidst the looks of frustration and despair, Sonic retained his characteristic smug grin.

"No offense, but what are you so happy about?" Vector half demanded, wanting in on a bit of that happiness.

Sonic wagged a finger, "We don't need a map! We have Boomey!" he turned to the minute ghost. "I bet if you really put in the effort, Boomey, you can really get a good feel for where the Chaos Emerald is!"

All eyes were on Boomey. Boomey rotated around to look at all those who depended on him to find that Emerald and put on a look of determination. He floated into the center of all the doorways and rotated around, gaining speed, until he stopped on a dime, one stub of an arm pointing directly into a doorway, "Chirchen!"

"Is that it?" Sonic grinned widely, then after the ghost gave an affirmative chirp, prompted the group to follow.

This process repeated for several areas with several paths to follow and Boomey spun and pointed for every one of them. After a particular spin and point, Boomey's eyes inflated almost twice the regular size.

"Are we at the Emerald NOW?" Amy groaned.

The path that Boomey pointed out so ceremoniously lead to a barricaded door, barred up with planks.

"You may have to take that thing in for a tune up." Sheena said needlessly.

"It's this DOOR that needs fixing!" Vector declared as he jumped past everybody else and reared a fist back, letting it fly and connect with the door. The door shot directly forward, tearing through the hinges like they were butter. Eventually the force caught up with the door and without hinges to extert on, had only itself to take the force and split in two before resting on the dusty ground.

Then came the bats. Most likely spooked from the door being smashed down, a horde of regular black bats ejected from the empty doorframe as if shot from a cannon. There were a bunch of surprised yelps among the group, minus the ghost who merely watched all the bats fly by and through him in fascination. When the last of the bats left, a gust pulled through the hall, blowing out every torch and making the scene nearly pitch-black. The only light came from the door that was just blasted down. There was probably a light source around the corner, but not bright enough to reach where the group currently was.

"Oops!" Sonic yelped.

"I dropped my torch!" Vector called.

"Sonic!" Obviously Amy shouted, reaching out.

"That's MY hand!" Rouge growled.

"EWW!" Amy reached and felt something soft, then rubbed her hand on it to get all the Rouge germs off.

"Who's rubbing my back?" Sheena said with a creeped-out waver.

Amy quickly took her hand off, making a mental note to wash out good and well when she got back to her room in the city.

"Everybody just calm down while we get the torches back up!" Sonic called, fumbling on the ground.

The uproar stopped, replaced with panting of those who were shouting. Amy heard Sonic's call from in front of her, so she backed up so as to not accidentally get in the way. She bumped into a large figure behind her.

"Oh!" Amy yelped, surprised, "Sorry, Vector! Did I get you?"

"I didn't feel anything." Vector muttered.

"Then what...?" The pink hedgehog's face paled as she, Rouge, and Sheena slowly turned to whatever was at Amy's back.

It was Boomey. But certainly not the Boomey they knew.

Boomey's shape was retained, but was now a size twice as large as Vector. Sharp horns threw off the arcane shape of the top of his head. Rather than perfectly round circles, Boomey's eyes looked like they were slashed out of his otherwise cloth-shaped face, giving them a mutilated look. And a mouth, Boomey now had a mouth for sure. A large mouth with two rows of what appeared to be razor sharp teeth. He no longer had stubby arms, but two large claw hands that seemed to float independent of the ghost itself. The three females stood, irises no larger than grains of sand.

"SHOOOORRRSHUUUNNN!" The now giant ghost howled.

Sonic and Vector had not heard the ghost, for Vector used his highly refined ability to snort a burst of flame onto both torches, fully illuminating the hallway. By the time they finished checking the torches to make sure they were structurally sound, Boomey had shrunk to his regular size and look.

"What's THEIR problem?" Vector scratched the back of his head as he and Sonic looked at the three cowering girls in front of them.

Boomey seemed to share in that confused sentiment. He floated over to Amy, tilted to the left, then nudged her head with a soft, "Chirchen?"

"WAAAAHHHH!" Amy cried at the touch, and promplty fainted on her stomach.

Rouge peeked through her arms, "Wait... 'chirchen?'" the bat echoed and looked to see the better Boomey looking right back.

"Never thought I'd see YOU outwardly scared of anything, Rouge." Sonic heckled, amused.

Rouge's face turned red in more ways than one, "He went DEMONIC! I'm sure YOU would have been DOUBLY scared!"

"Is that even a word?" Vector mused.

"S-stop talking!" Rouge blurted before finally completely regaining her compusure, "We have an Emerald to find!" She huffily grabbed Sonic by the arm and carried the blue hedgehog with her through the busted doorway. Boomey, none the wiser, chirped happily, then zoomed off, easily floating past the two and making them give chase. Vector snorted, then followed.

Sheens, already over the encounter, wondered how to wake Amy up. She eventually settled on delivering a swift kick to the pink hedgehog's rear end, prompting a shriek of pain, then an angry chase.

-

Boomey led the group of five down a long hallway that was filled with a mix of torches, lamps, and oddly functional electronic lighting. That explained the light source down the hall and around the corner from earlier, and gave an anticlimactic end to the need for torches, or finding a way to keep Boomey illuminated. The ghost was fast, so it kept all of them running.

"Are you sure we can trust this thing, Sonic?" Rouge asked, "We've been through a whole lot and STILL have nothing to show for it!"

"Of course we can, he knows where he's going, it's just taking a while is all!" The blue hedgehog grinned back and concentrated on running. He then noticed Rouge making a mouth noise, "What's up?"

Rouge seemed to concentrate for a second, then looked back, "I accidentally echolocated down the hall..." then after getting a look from Sonic. "What? I'm a bat! Anyway, I got back some images of a lot of familiar forms."

Suddenly, Sheena gasped, then upped her speed. Surprisingly, she had a burst of speed that exceeded even Sonic's leisurly running speed.

"What...? She's fast!" Sonic gaped at the leopard's retreating form.

"Yeah!" Amy called, "And I even got a taste of what her speed is like... she never went that fast!"

Vector scoffed, then reached for his notebook. However, he really couldn't write while running, but he sure would remember what he wanted to write down when the appropriate time came.

"I'll catch up to her and see what's up!" Sonic called back and blurred his legs as his speed increased dramatically and chased after Sheena.

-

Sheena was stopped at the end of the hall and opening to another room. Sonic stopped right beside her, "What's with the rushing?"

The answer was right in front of him. In the expansive room in front of them, Team Chaos was locked in a battle with Team Evolution. Chaos, the large blue creature, fell right in front of them, and both the blue hedgehog and leopard looked up to see a triumphant Bandit on the a high-rise.

"Father!" Tikal cried and ran to Chaos.

"I am fine." The blue creature hissed.

Tikal looked over to see Shadow fending off Team Evolution, then happened to look over to the entrance of the room, "Is that Sonic... and who is that?"

"A friend!" Sheena called, then ran in, "I messed up last time, but I'm going to make up for that now!"

"Wait!" Tikal called after, "They have a Chaos Emerald on their side!"

Sheena didn't listen and ran towards Bandit, who had just knocked Shadow back. Bandit seemed unready to recieve Sheena until a brown blur scooped her up. After it cleared, Talon was seen grasping Sheena in an immobilizing hold.

"Put her down, Talon!" Sonic shouted up.

"Very well." Talon grinned and spun, gaining momentum and tossing Sheena straight forward... into Tikal. The angelic echinda had no time to react before the projectile leopard slammed into her. The glint of a purple jewel in the air gave her a look of horror as she fell.

"The Chaos Emerald!" Tikal shouted before she and Sheena hit the ground.

"Chaos Emerald?" Sonic echoed, then ran towards the purple Emerald. It vanished before he got to it, "What?"

Talon reappeared, holding both the blue Emerald and now the pruple Emerald, "Bandit, catch!"

Bandit looked over and expertly caught the Emerald tossed to him. He then looked back to Shadow, who he had been sparring with.

"Chaos Mirage!"

"Chaos Cont-!" Shadow could only get out before Bandit used the short burst of speed from his attack to ram the black hedgehog in the stomach, causing him to fly through a rotting table. Shadow, however, kept hold of the green Chaos Emerald.

At this time, Rouge, Vector, Amy, and Boomey finally caught up. Talon looked over.

"I think it's time for us to take our leave!" The hawk called to his cohort.

"Yeah, we came to get an Emerald, we got one! See you all later!"

"Chaos Control!" Both members of Team Evolution shouted and were gone.

-

Sonic ran over to where Sheena was and helped her up, "Are you okay? Anything hurt?"

"Only my pride..." Sheena whined.

The wreckage of the table Shadow fell through burst into smaller pieces as Shadow helped himself up. He slowly walked over to where the rest of his team is.

"Is everything accounted for here?"

"I am well." Chaos said.

"I'm sorry, Shadow... I lost the purple Emerald!" Tikal buried her face in her hands.

Shadow narrowed his eyes in a sympathetic pity. He gingerly walked over to the floored angelic echidna and took her hand to help her up. He then turned to where Team Unity was in a perfect lineup and scoffed, "It isn't your fault." He then walked over to that only other team in the room, "It's YOUR'S!"

"Me?" Sheena replied, reeling back.

"Don't play dumb! Though I doubt you need to pretend to be as much." Shadow raised his fist, "Your reckless idiocy not only let them get away, but with one of our Emeralds, too! Now they both have great power at the same time! Do you understand this?"

Sheena shrunk back even more, "But... I'm a friend. I was only trying to help."

Shadow bore his teeth, "With friends like you, who needs enemies?" And grabbed Sheena's shoulder.

"Hey!" Sonic cut in, "Lay off, Shadow! I mean it!"

The black hedgehog breathed in and out slowly, "I could decimate you."

"I don't care. Leave her be."

In an act unlike him, Shadow relented rather than shove Sheena or something of the sort. "I'll just take comfort in knowing that her ways will get you killed, or close to it. Mark my words, Blue Hedgehog."

"It's 'SONIC.'" The opposite hedgehog growled.

"We'll have to agree to disagree." Shadow grinned, his mood lightening from Sonic's annoyance. He then turned to his team, "Come. That Chaos Emerald remains unfound and Team Evolution has twice the power now."

Shadow and Chaos turned to leave, and so did Tikal, but she then turned back around. "Please don't let Shadow get to you. He really is above this, and it is really disheartening to see one as yourself to get so soured so easily." Tikal then whipped around again and hopped a few steps to catch up to her teammates. There was a bit of silence as her final words hung in the air.

"She's right, you know." Sheena, of all people, spoke up at last. To accompany, Boomey chirped and pat Sonic's shoulder a couple of times.

Sonic rolled his eyes in playful reluctance, "I'll be good."

The Emerald tracker at Vector's waist beeped a couple of times. The crocodile picked it up and looked, "It says here that we're pretty close!"

"Yeah!" Sonic rose a motivated fist, "Let's go to it, then!"

They made for the same direction Team Chaos left, but where halted by a chirping. All looked to Boomey next to a book case.

"What NOW?" Rouge muttered.

Amy, the closest one, walked over and looked at a book that Boomey indicated. She place her hand on the book, "This one?" And then pulled. She barely got it half out when the book case started to move by itself, turning nintey degrees and revealing a torch-lit stone tunnel.

"A shortcut!" Vector observed.

Boomey beamed, moving in a fashion like a head nodding, then took off down the tunnel.

-

The tunnel wormed around under the mansion, then finally emerged in a courtyard overlooked by four large towers at each corner. Boomey floated into the upper right tower, as indicated by an aged stone-carved map of the courtyard. Once through the narrow door of the tower, directly on the ground floor, in the middle of planks spiraling upward, was an altar with a very welcome sight.

"The Chaos Emerald!" Several, if not all of them said.

Sure enough, the yellow Chaos Emerald stood at the top of the altar, shining brilliantly, imploring any and all who look upon it to take it. They walked toward it, relief at finally being done with it all flooding them all.

But it never is that easy.

A flash of orange and white plummeted to the floor. Tikal drover her fist into the ground, creating a tremor. The five in front of her yelped and fell forward.

"Forgive me..." The echidna muttered.

With this opportunity, a puddle of blue climbed the altar to the top. Chaos rose from the puddle and thrust his hand onto the Emerald, suspending the powerful jewel in his large blue fist.

To keep anyone else from reacting accordingly in time, Shadow emerged from behind Chaos, leaping over and landing in front of the group picking themselves off the ground.

"Consider this the equalizing factor for what happened earlier." The ultimate one lectured. "Chaos, now we can leave."

Chaos nodded. He placed a hand on the shoulders of the other two. "Chaos Control."

Just like that, a moment of triumpth became a moment of humility and defeat.

"Well... that was an anti climax to be sure." Vector heaved a sigh.

"Let's look at the silver lining." Amy quickly cut through the despair, "The name of the game is keeping the Emeralds away from Team Evolution. So this is good in the long run."

"My ears are burning."

The cool voice emanated from halfway up the spiral plank. Bandit stood, casting a patronizing glare down at the group of five underneath him.

-

Amy growled before anybody else, whipping out her hammer, "We're not in the mood for you morons - YES, I can see you in the shadows, stupid hawk boy - So just HONK OFF!"

Talon emerged, clicking his tongue, "Such manners."

"Rather the lack thereof." his raccoon cohort shrugged. "But hey, let's let her expend all that energy before they all perish, anyway."

"Care to make good on that comment?" Sonic narrowed his eyes and adopted a fighting stance, thumbing his nose.

"Oh no... we don't need to do anything." Bandit leaned in, knowing that they suspected him of having something of his sleeve. "Talon, when does the sun set today?"

Talon closed his eyes in though, then opened them again, "According to the weather forecast, nineteen hundred hours."

"Seven o' clock, in other words. What time is it now?"

"Eighteen hundred hours and fifty-nine minutes."

"Six fifty-nine... that means the sun ought to be setting at any time now, right?"

"What's the point of all this?" Vector demanded, exasperated.

"Riddle me this." Bandit sneered, "When the sun sets, you get no more light. And when you get no more light, well... you fill in the blanks. Speaking of which, I think we ought to get out of here before it happens, Talon."

"Chaos Control!" Both members of Team Evolution called, using both Emeralds they possessed merely to show off.

"Jerks." Amy spat.

"Just what were they talking about before they left?" Sheena asked.

"Something is supposed to happen when the sun sets." Sonic held his hand back to finger one of his quills thoughtfully. As he said that, the sun took one final peek over the horizon before shrinking down into it for the night, causing a great darkness to fall over the scene.

There was a bit of a silence until Rouge's head snapped up, "The ghost!" The agent shouted.

"Boomey?" Sonic tried to clarify, then felt the blood rush out of his face. "Uh... Oh... Where is he?"

They all looked to see Boomey huddled in a corner. He was trembling and chirp constantly. Then, he jerked backwards as the shade overcame him. He floated over the altar. Sonic and the rest watched in horror as Boomey swelled an grew, a particularly large twitch enlarged him to a gargantuan size. The horns poked from his head and reached to the sky. The stubs of arms broke off and grew into clawed hands. Boomey's eyes swirled until they grew jagged and his mouth unsealed, swinging open.

"SHOOOORRRR!" The now malicious ghost howled. The horror of the onlookers intensified.

"I take back the tone of voice I had put on earlier." Vector apologized softly to the three females.

Sonic grimaced at his ghost friend turning into a wild creature. Team Evolution had let Team Chaos get the yellow Chaos Emerald, as long as they made a nice diversion in time for the sun to fall, causing any ghosts to become dangerous. Meeting Boomey was an unsuspected bonus for them. "Boomey... no..."

-

Boomey still seemed to be struggling with himself, as if trying not to revert to a primal, violent way.

"Do you think he's still friendly?" Sheena asked in a voice half as loud as usual.

Amy, in a voice just as loud, muttered, "I'd rather not stick around to find out."

The group of five whirled around to beat a path out of the tower, but the sudden movement snapped Boomey to attention much like blood does to a shark. With a shout, Boomey shot his two floating hands forward.

"Whatch it!" Rouge shouted in warning, leaping over a racing outstretched hand. The hand came full cirlce, but was unable to catch the bat as she kicked off the wall and flew to the other side of the ground floor.

Boomey's other hand reached out for Sonic. He had nothing against his former best friend, he was just the closest. Sonic outran the hand for a bit until he got an idea to just run around the hand, disorienting it until it dropped.

Amy saw a chance and brandished the piko piko hammer she took out earlier. "It's time to UNHAND this ghost!" The female hedgehog leapt into the air and let her hammer down upon the ghost's dropped hand. Too bad the hammer went right through. "Eh?" Amy muttered, seeing the cracked ground under Boomey's hand. The hand then lifted, and grabbed Amy. "How come it's solid NOW?" She whined.

"My guess..." Vector scratched the back of his head, "He can control that."

"WAAAHHH!" Came another female shout from behind. Boomey's other hand floated to the main body, holding Sheena.

Rather than depositing his hostages in his mouth in typical form of a large monster, Boomey merely passed his hands through the main body, dropping off his cargo in the main body in the process. He then turned to the three members of Team Unity.

"We should have just run!" Rouge said to the others.

"Well we can't, now!" Sonic clenched a fist, "He's got Amy and Sheena!"

"How do we get them- WOAH!"

All three dodged as a massive hand came down, encompassing the area where all three of them used to stand. They leapt onto the spiraling plank that lead up to the top of the tower.

Vector traced the path of the spiral up, "That's it! Those stone maps! They showed searchlights at the top of the towers! Maybe we can shed a little light on our friends to help things out."

Sonic nodded, all business, "It's the only plan we have so far. We have to try!" Boomey tried once again, this time bearing the claws of his hands forward and sending them like missiles. The team each ducked and jumped under and over the two claws, respectively. The hands sailed past and crashed through the stone walls of the tower, soon to return to the main body. "No time to waste!"

The famed blue blur lived up to his name as he grabbed the arms of both his teammates and ran up the spiraling plank to the top of the tower. Boomey kept level with them and launched his fists at them repeatedly, missing each time, whether by a miss or whenever the team jumped over. Sometimes the fists crashed into the plank, causing holes in which Rouge was able to keep the team from falling.

At the top of the tower, the searchlight certainly was there. Boomey sensed a possible way to his down fall and seemed ready to bust the searchlight.

"I see the switch up there!" Rouge pointed out, "Create a distraction or something!"

Sonic and Vector nodded to each other. The hegehog jump on the alligator's shoulders and waved his arms, "Yo, Boomey Boo! Over here, buddy!"

Boomey grimaced at the pair and sent a fist forward, barely missing the stacked duo. The other fist came at middle height, making Sonic jump up and Vector duck for two seconds before returning to the position they were in before the second fist had come.

"Lights on!" Rouge called, flying up to the switch and pulling it. The searchlight ejected a stream into the sky. Not one to be unprepared, the bat then dropped down to where several supports kept the searchlight standing. "This one!" She confirmed, using her momentum to kick the support.

The unsupported searchlight slowly tilted down, then flopped onto a new axis, pointing directly at Boomey. The ectoplasmic menace was unfortunate enough to be staring directly at the source and shrieked, holding its floating hands up in an attempt to block out the light. With his concentration broken, the ghost fell.

"My turn!" Vector shouted, allowing Sonic to dismount. He leapt from the spiraling plank and followed Boomey down the large shaft. When Boomey landed, Vector reared his fist back. He then thrust the fist forward and directly into the ghost. As he thought, Boomey had no concentration enough to go intangible, so Vector was able to punch right through and dig into the transparent ghost like a thick birthday cake. Amy and Sheena saw this attempt and reached back to Vector. Unfortunately, Boomey was over his bright experience in time. "Uh oh." Vector muttered simply.

"SHOOOORRRR!" Boomey shouted, using the compression that Vector generated to inflate back out, bouncing directly upward and actively destroying the tower from the bottom up. The balloon-like inflation also bounced against Sonic and Rouge, sending all members of Team Unity skyward.

Rouge, the former agent she was, landed in the courtyard expertly on her feet. Sonic twisted around in mid air and oriented himself so his feet hit the ground. Vector's experience as a private detective, however, came in no use for landing carefully, as he roughly hit the ground on his back. By the time Sonic and Rouge helped him up, Boomey had found them and was approaching again.

There was a point of interest, though. The spot on Boomey where Vector had all but penetrated had swollen and seemed to be cheaply covered up in a layer of white, like a ghastly bandage.

"I think that got to him!" Sonic pointed out.

Rouge looked about, then pointed, "To the next tower, then! Maybe if we do the same thing, it will work the next time!"

Team Unity charged into the tower, getting Boomey to follow.

-

It was a long process. Like Rouge had said, they were able to con Boomey into getting face-fulls of light two more times and each time, Vector nearly reached Amy and Sheena. Each time, also, Boomey had a new bandage added and his attempts were getting slower. Three towers were leveled, and hopefully the fourth time would be the charm.

As Rouge lifted herself to pull the fourth switch, Sonic said aside to Vector while dodging a fist, "You have to go for broke this time... the girls seemed a little green around the gills when I last got a glimpse."

The searchlight fell on Boomey. No matter how many times he felt the light, Boomey always reacted the same, falling to the bottom.

"I'm doing it this time!" Vector declared before jumping off and keeping his fist ready for impact. He bore his reptilian teeth with determination until he reached the spot where Boomey lay. With a shout of effort, Vector thrust forward and plowed into Boomey with both arms. Realizing this could be the final chance, Vector strained all he could and once he felt his effort peak, clenches his fists. They clamped securely around the arms of those trapped inside. "Gotcha!"

To get Vector off, Boomey once again inflated, taking down the tower. Like clockwork, Rouge landed first, then Sonic, and finally Vector, on his back. This time, out of the need to keep Amy and Sheena out of harm's way.

"How are you guys doing?" Sonic immediately asked.

Sheena coughed, giving Amy an opening to say, "We'll be fine."

Sonic nodded, then looked to Boomey with four swollen spots and four bandages. Rather than assault, Boomey tried looking away and growling in a pained manner, like it hurt more to attack his friends than the actual pain that was resulting from it.

"He's trying not to attack us." Sonic muttered.

"That's good!" Rouge narrowed her eyes, a little bit of sympathy showing, "He's trying to stall himself to give us an opening to get away!"

Vector picked himself up, "I'm fine, thanks."

-

It didn't take long for Amy and Sheena to recover at the five of them raced through the mansion, retracing their steps to find the original entrance and their big exit.

"Not far now!" Vector called, remembering certian spots. He emitted an involuntary groan at his back pain.

"Finally!" Amy gasped.

A bit of noise came from behind, but the group concentrated on their running. Sheena was the first to look back. "Uh... guys?"

The rest looked back to behold a terrifying sight. Hordes of ghosts melted from the walls and began their own transformation into their darkness selves.

"Oh, man!" Amy compained, "We can't possibly outrun all THOSE."

"We have to try!" Sonic squeezed his eyes shut, but realized he couldn't run at top speed for the risk of leaving the others behind.

Directly behind, a great crash was heard. Several confused yelps emitted and the group of five stopped. A familiar large ghost with four swelling spots topped by bandages had come through the wall and propped itself in the way of the incoming ghost horde. He inflated to block off the entire hallway from the ghosts.

"Boomey?" Rouge said in disbelief.

"It is!" Sonic said with a mirroring look, then he beamed, "He must be helping us out with whatever right mind he has left!" Boomey's hide swelled with incoming ghosts trying to break through to no avial. "But wait... how it HE going to escape?"

"Does it MATTER?" The bat next to him cried, grabbing his shoulder and forcing her emerald eyes upon his, "Don't you get it? He's doing something noble and I for one am not making it go to waste!"

Sonic looked to the wall of white, then back to the rest of his friends, who were all nodding at the voice of reason. "But... Boomey..." He shook his head, "Right... let's get out of here!"

As if on cue, the efforts of Boomey to block off the hallway were taking its toll on the structral integrity of the hallway. In fact, the entire mansion was shaking off its foundation. In no time, the dilapidated establishment shook from every doorway to every supporting beam. It got so bad entire walls were collapsing and beams fell from the cieling. Dust flew everywhere and kicked up clouds.

"I can't see!" Sonic shouted over the destruction.

"...on... ...Mis... ...ic...!"

"I hear a voice!" Sheena called.

"...Mis... ...Son... ...ov... ...ere...!"

Sonic turned his head, "That way!"

"... here, Mister Sonic! Over here!"

In a line so nobody got lost, Sonic lead the rest to where the voice came from. Sure enough, the source of the voice stood far away, her chao friend also calling out.

"What's CREAM doing here?" Sonic wondered, though not complaining.

Amy brushed a quill back, "I kind of told Cream and Big about what we were doing before we left."

"Oh... wait, Big, too!"

The said cat made himself known with a call of his own. The blue cat stood in the doorway, apparently holding it up.

"It was going to fall apart! It's awfully heavy!"

"How long can he hold it?" Vector posed.

Not long, by the looks of it. Big already seemed to be crumbling under the weight. Cream and Cheese seemed to be picking sides to help Big on, but in the long run, they were losing ground. If he could run at top speed, Sonic could make it. But he couldn't just leave the others hanging. If only he could give his speed to the rest.

"That's it!" Sonic yelped suddenly, then looked to the group, "Listen up! Vector and Rouge! Get to either side of me and take my hand! Then Amy and Sheena, go to opposite ends and take their other hands! Don't ask why, DO IT!"

Known in the ways of switching formation supposedly minus Sheena, the other four quickly did as Sonic said, for his rare moments of absolute authority kicked in. Nobody complained, except for Amy's bitter wondering at why Rouge got to hold Sonic's hand and not her.

"Now, Amy! Sheena, we all saw you, too! GUN IT!"

Having heard enough of Sonic's easygoing lingo, they both knew it meant to go fast. The three speed characters worked their legs over time, taking the flight and power characters with them. Sonic was fastest, so they made a wide V formation.

"It's going to fall!" Big warned, giving a long drawl on the last word, emphasizing a warning.

A five-colored blur of blue, purple, green, pink, and yellow flashed by Big, telling him that the others were out. Making sure that the cute rabbit and her chao were also safely outside, Big finally let go of the doorway, making a comical dash of his own to get as far away as possible. It didn't take long after Big relented for the doorway to crumble, starting a chain reaction that took down segment after segment of the mansion, leaving only the largest pile of wreckage that any of the onlookers would have ever seen.

The words of Chaos ringed in Sonic's ears. An evil force was CONTAINED in the masnion. Meaning that if the mansion fell, so did all inside.

"Boomey..." Sonic muttered, blinking tears and shaking his head.

There was a bit of silence for the ghost. The group of five knew that deep down, Boomey was a good ghost who could not control himself.

Vector eventually broke the silence, "Come on. Let's, uh, let's go. I think we all need a rest afte that, to say the least."

"I'll see myself home." Sheena muttered, excusing herself.

"See you later." Amy attempted.

By now, there was just a somber feel about the remainder as they walked back to Emerald Town, the feeling being mutual once all was told to Cream and Big. It just was not fair that feelings of loss just had to keep piling up. They were no closer to getting Tails, Knuckles, Espio, and Charmy back. Plus, Team Chaos beat them to the punch. Again.

When were things going to start looking up?

-

The doors to Tails's Lab slid open, giving entry to a weary Team Unity. Through all the excitement, they never really took in consideration how late it had gotten by the time the Tornado would return them. They all sat around a round table, trying to avoid each other's gaze. Rouge, ever the quick one to pessimism, started the conversation.

"All of that... for what? Humiliation?"

Vector snorted, "As much as I don't like the underlying message in that, I have to agree with you. All we got was our tails handed to us. We are beaten to two Chaos Emeralds and even lose one."

"Team Evolution just gets stronger and so does Team Chaos."

"Well," Sonic said at last, taking a breath, "One thing is for sure tomorrow. The sun will come up."

Rouge and Vector shared a look, Rouge talking, "Point being...?"

Sonic looked up, but with a mouth that slowly curved upward, "Point being that whether it is a good day or a bad day, it always starts with the sun coming up! There are still three Chaos Emeralds to be found and who knows what the next day could bring, right? With such a bad luck streak like ours, we're due for some good fortune, am I right?"

"Well!" Rouge responded, not helping a perked attitude herself, "Somebody get themselves a mood lift!"

"I'll say." Vector nodded.

The happy hedgehog rubbed his chin, "I've been given plenty of time to assess how I've been acting and, well, I've been so much unlike myself I probably would not recognize myself in a million years! I say it's time to ride that silver lining to victory! Who's with me?"

"I am!" Vector put his hand in.

"Same here!" Rouge extended a slender gloved hand.

"TEAM UNITY!" The three of them called out.

"It doesn't bother anybody we do that whole shouting thing, right?" Sonic asked, "You know it's just some silly thing we do for motivation."

Vector smiled, "I wouldn't call it silly. Sure, it was a bit much at first, but one gets used to it after a while."

"It's a bit to team-y to me." The bat shrugged.

"Yeah, and it's not like we're a real team or anything, are we?" Sonic teased.

Rouge huffed, but not in a way that meant anything. Fatigue washed over them all at the same time.

"All I know it I need my beauty sleep!" Rouge yawned.

"Yeah, the sooner we get to sleep, the sooner the new day full of possibilities comes!"

"Now you're just over-doing it, Sonic." Vector rolled his eyes.

"Oh... sorry."

A newly rejuvinated Team Unity... well, motivated, to say the least, moved to their respective rooms to get some earned rest and look forward to a hopefully better day when the sun next rose.


	8. U The Tunnels of LoveHate

**Sonic Evolution**

**Unity Story**

**Chapter 8: The Tunnels of Love-Hate**

The computer in Tails's lab powered up and an order was made to show a certain news story from a bit of time ago. The date was a famous one, directly after the time the Master Emerald had first been taken by Eggman but Sonic had put a stop to it. It seemed a party was going on and a reporter was in front of the camera.

"I am here live at the scene that has resulted from a series of odd events. A half hour ago, a man who called himself Doctor Ivo Robotnik had seized control of every monitor in the world, be it a television or a computer screen. He trumpeted his own praises and proclaimed that he owned 'The Master Emerald' and planned to take over the world with it. The world was thrown into frenzy until this transmission contained some unintended footage. Apparently, there was resistance to Robotnik's takeover... a golden yellow _hedgehog_. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, a hedgehog stood up to Robotnik in a battle that took place barely above the atmosphere. This hedgehog pestered the doctor, distracting him from the fact that his own missiles were heading back toward him. The hedgehog moved away in time for the missiles to connect with and destroy the ship that Doctor Robotnik had been in. The hedgehog had been last seen riding a red plane along with two more like him, animals that were bipedal and apparently could _talk_! ... Wait, is that-? Yes! It's them! They're flying over Station Square airspace right now and seem to be coming in for a landing! This could be a great moment in history! I will go over and talk to them."

The reporter half jogged over to where the Tornado had landed. Sonic and Knuckles hopped off the wings while Tails tended to turning off all the Tornado's systems. The camera was jammed into Sonic's face so close that one could see his iris shrink, then slowly grow back to normal size.

"Are _you_ the hedgehog that had saved the planet?" The reporter asked, shoving the microphone into Sonic's face.

Sonic reeled back a bit from having that object quickly brought so close. "Uhh, yeah. That was me. It wasn't the first time, though..."

"There are _more_ adventures? You must tell!"

"Uhh..." Sonic moaned, looking around at all the attention. Knuckles went "hmph" and turned his back, a look of indignation and lack of appreciate on his face. Tails had only just hopped out of the Tornado.

The current story faded from the screen and a new one began, this time a week or so later.

"I am here live in front of the nation's capital where history is being made. In light of the events that transpired a bit of time ago, it seems that not on Sonic the hedgehog, Tails the fox, and Knuckles the echidna are the only of their kind. In fact, there is a whole _race_ of these half-breed creatures that have been dubbed 'furries.' Almost as soon as Sonic had been recognized for his contributions to peace, the furries emerged in large numbers. So far, it would seem that the humans have nothing to fear, but still opinions are split down the middle."

The camera cut to an interview with a man with a buzz cut and a red handlebar mustache in uniform and the name "Commander Tad Hanson" in subtitles below.

"It's an invasion!" Hanson bellowed, "These creatures have been observing us from beneath our noses and are slowly moving in to take over the planet! It is a subtle takeover, for sure, but a takeover nonetheless! If I had it my way, we'd put these... these _things_ in a highly quarantined rock out in the ocean and be done with them!"

Once again the camera cut to another interview to a man that could be recognized as the current president. This interview had been conducted during the campaign times. In this clip, he was only a candidate.

"I welcome them." The future commander in chief said, completely inversing Hanson's sentiment, "I've spoken with many of them and they have lived on this planet not as long as man has, but most certainly a long enough time! These furries have made their own civilizations and lived and thrived not unlike how man has throughout the ages. This is truly a remarkable development and I think - no, I know that the introduction of the furries into mankind's knowledge is a symbol for good things ahead!"

It was that openly supportive stance on the furries that had actually helped the president win when the election came around. The first view of the reporter returned onscreen.

"These contrasting views are currently being tested, almost with the violence of a fisticuffs encounter! The governing bodies are deadlocked with opinions all over the board in terms of how to respond to the furries and also what to do, or to do anything at all. One bubble that had leaked from these walls was talk of a furry settlement, a patch of land set aside from the rest of the humans so that furries can live secluded and emerge into outside territories if they so wish. The reason for this being that already many intolerable acts have been committed by grandiose extremists who share Commander Hanson's view, calling themselves 'Hanson's Resistance,' though no links have been made between the Commander and this group. This isn't to say that there are most humans against the furries, it is just to say that those who are of that group are taking it upon themselves to make much more of their point than any other stance."

The computer froze the clip, and then closed the video player that had been showing those news clips. The computer then began a shutdown process; it would soon turn itself off in every aspect with no additional inputs required. Per that, Rouge walked away from the computer. When the computer finally shut down, the light that had been emanating faded, bathing Rouge's retreating figure in the darkness of the unlit room until she emerged from it.

-

The entire rest of the day was massively uneventful. That was, until a very welcome beep echoed through the halls of Tails's lab. All three members of Team Unity scrambled from their at-the-time positions to the tracker to see where a Chaos Emerald had emitted a spike of energy.

"It's the pink Chaos Emerald!" Vector proclaimed after a few button presses on the Chaos Emerald tracker.

If anybody were to keep score on which teams had which Chaos Emeralds, than they would find that the makeshift scoreboard held at zero versus two versus two. Team Evolution held the blue and purple Emeralds. Team Chaos held the green and yellow Emeralds, and Team Unity was left with naught but a goose egg. That is, no Emeralds at the current.

On a previous day, this fact was brought up and Sonic gave a grand speech on how the team was just due for some good luck. With his words in mind, the trio of a team set out with increased optimism. The Tornado later landed at the foot of a fence. Past it rested the location of the Chaos Emerald.

"A construction site?" Rouge the bat asked upon walking through, craning her neck to look at the currently unmanned construction equipment. "Is it me, or are these Emeralds purposely hitting every cliché in the location book?"

"I'm not complaining!" Sonic grinned and thumbed his nose toward an incomplete structure, "Clichés are my element!"

There was a bit of a pause until Vector asked, "Just what do you mean by that?"

Sonic seemed to catch up with reality, "Um, well, I meant to say that adventuring is my element. It's one thing to just run around the planet, but to actually go into detail and see what's up where? It's a great feeling, especially if you don't know what to expect."

"Speaking of things that one doesn't expect..." Vector indicated a deep impact into the earth with a drill poised at about ground level. Directly in the center of the impact sat the pink emerald, radiating brilliantly. "It must be reacting with the construction equipment. All the others were in slightly controlled environments, right?"

Sonic made no attempt to understand what his green comrade had just said. He merely called out, "Why not?" and jumped down to the Chaos Emerald.

No sooner had he done so when a similar thud came from the opposite side of the Emerald. Sonic looked over and saw gravel tumbling down like when the presence of another person. The blue hedgehog paused, for he never saw Rouge or Vector circle around. Sonic leaned to the side to see if anybody was over there. He then turned to shout up to his teammates to ask if anybody circled around. Unfortunately, he was blocked by a figure of brown and white, and a dab of yellow.

"Boo." Said Talon the Hawk.

"YOU!" Sonic shouted and leapt back, landing on gravel, and losing his balance for two seconds, then regaining it. "If you're here, then that could only mean…"

"Bingo!" Came the voice of Bandit the raccoon as he descended upon Sonic. Sonic noticed Bandit now wore what appeared to be a parachute, but much smaller and easily ignorable. He didn't know what it was for, but he suspected it wouldn't be good. Caught into a two-way pincer strike, Sonic saw no way out of it… until Rouge swept in front of him to catch Bandit and Vector rushed from the side, taking Talon down for a few seconds.

Sonic breathed a sigh of relief. He then looked to the Chaos Emerald. The pink Emerald just sat there, waiting to be grabbed. The blue hedgehog looked to his side. Rouge and Bandit were locked in a battle of brigand martial arts. He then looked to the other side where Talon seemed to be trying to land crushing blows on Vector, only to land soft thuds on Vector's physique. There was an opening. Sonic moved to grab the Emerald.

Sheena the leopard appeared in front of him. "Sonic, I'm here! Where's the Chaos Emerald?"

Sonic remembered having contacted Sheena so she could come and help. He pointed past Sheena, "Right behind you! Didn't you see it?"

"See what?" the leopard asked, looking behind her. Sonic wore a confused expression and looked at where the pink Emerald lay… or rather _used_ to lie, for the stone pedestal was now empty.

"Where-?" Sonic began but then got cut off.

"NOT SO FAST!" Rouge bellowed, taking into the sky and grabbing at shadows, revealing Bandit who had been clinging onto the tip of the drill, trying to hide himself. Rouge pulled his hand out, revealing it to be holding the Chaos Emerald.

Sheena pointed, "Is that it?"

Sonic decided not to point out how obvious the answer to her question was. He instead thought on how quickly Bandit had taken advantage of that temporary lapse of attention Sonic would experience. It was almost as if that brown thief had been counting on it…

"_Whoa!_" Bandit shouted. Rouge had kicked the hand he used to hang onto the drill and both he and the bat plummeted to the center of the deep impact. At the very same moment, Vector got the upper hand on Talon and flipped the hawk over his shoulder, tossing him against the pedestal of stone.

Both the pair of Rouge and Bandit and Talon smashed into the ground at roughly the same point. At this point, the structural integrity of the deep impact began to falter.

"It's about to collapse!" Sonic shouted a warning to all in the deep impact.

Talon groaned, then spread his wings and flew out. Vector was close to the edge, so he merely climbed out. Sheena seemed to be looking around in a panic, so Sonic grabbed her wrist and ran out, pulling the leopard with him.

"Where's-?" She started.

"Rouge!" Sonic finished. At least, that's what he thought Sheena was about to say. Sonic ran to the edge of the hole. "Rouge! Are you still down there?"

Rouge was indeed still down there, and so was Bandit. They both grasped the pink Chaos Emerald tightly with their dominant hands and attempted to swat the other away with their choice of limb.

"Just… let it go!" Rouge grunted over the collapsing dirt and soil.

"You let go!" Bandit responded, "We need to settle this before this hole collapses!"

He had a point. The hole was fast filling with rocks and dirt and gravel. That drill poised over didn't exactly look like it was going to stay up their either. "No dice!" the agent responded at last, "You give me this Chaos Emerald right now!"

The crafty raccoon scowled. She was serious. Why was she so determined to keep this Chaos Emerald? Because it was pink? He eyes wandered a bit out of the monotony of the situation and noticed a sparkle near beneath Rouge's head. It was a pristine pink glow that was heart-shaped. Bandit couldn't help but to stare in awe at the beauty of this jewel that Rouge wore around her neck.

The ground sunk a few inches. Both the bat and the raccoon froze in place. They both knew that the ground was now officially as thick as a piece of paper. Any odd move would plunge them into the earth. They remained frozen for a couple of seconds before the ground decided to end the tense moment and just give away.

"ROUGE!" Both Sonic and Vector shouted.

"Oh, _no_." Talon muttered.

-

The time passed between first falling through the hole and coming to was not clear for Rouge. All she knew was that when she opened her eyes, she couldn't tell the difference. It was very dark where she was. Moaning as she fully comprehended her situation, Rouge stood up and tried to look in a direction that would reveal anything but darkness or earthy wall. Well, she thought, it's time to dust off the seldom-used aspects of being a bat.

Rouge opened her mouth and popped out a minute sound. The sound, though small, still bounced back. Through her internal senses, she got a feel for her surroundings. Tunnel in front, tunnel in back, and a hole directly above. How far the hole in the ceiling reached up, she did not know. She assumed it would be a lost cause to try and find out.

After deciding that, Rouge sensed something else. Something that was faintly noticeable as not being part of the scenery. She shuffled her way towards the something. As soon as she rounded a corner, she found the area getting brighter. Eventually the echolocation ceased, having been very short-lived. Rouge made a little jog toward the source of the light and saw what she had expected but not wanted to see.

Bandit stood facing away from Rouge's approach. He held up a flare that illuminated the hall a few feet in front and behind. He was leaning against one of the earth walls, taking weight off one of his legs.

At this point Rouge noticed what was in his _other_ hand. "Hey!" She shouted, making the raccoon look over his shoulder, "We could be miles under sea level, but that doesn't mean that Chaos Emerald isn't coming back in _my_ possession!"

Bandit fully turned around, still trying to keep weight off of that same leg. There was an unreadable yet still tense silence between the two until Bandit looked off to the side and sighed. "First, we're not _miles_ under where we fell. I'd say tens of feet… which is still pretty far down. Second, I don't think we ought to continue our surface quarrel. If you haven't noticed, the circumstances have changed."

This show of civility took Rouge by surprise. Her rhetoric was struck down by Bandit's cool demeanor. She could see it in his normally malicious eyes… they were now docile.

"So… what are we supposed to do now?" The bat asked, folding her arms to signify she was nowhere near being comfortable with bandit.

"Not that I'd ever want to suggest this again, I say we work together to try and find a way back to the surface." Bandit's grip on the wall seemed to falter, and he gripped the Chaos Emerald tighter, "We can worry about _this_ later." He paused to wait for a response from Rouge. The agent still held her head high and snubbed away from Bandit. He lifted an eyebrow, "No?"

Rouge opened an emerald eye to Bandit, "Not no… but not yes, either. As I see it now, it's conditional."

"Conditional?" Bandit demanded.

"Yes." One of the corners of Rouge's mouth tugged upward, "Conditional. If _you_ haven't noticed, I'm the one who can see in the dark. I'd say that flare you probably nicked from the construction site tool shed can only last you a little while longer, tops. You need me, and I don't need you."

Rouge looked over to Bandit to get her satisfactory look of hopeless bleak despair. The crafty raccoon's face was flushed and for the first time, he looked defeated. He hung his head, "What do I have to do?"

The wheels in Rouge's head turned. Shall she make him do something utterly embarrassing and hold that over his head forever, or perhaps use this opportunity to make him do something practical? She settled on a little bit of both.

"I've got it." Rouge said, and then faced Bandit, "I'll help you out if you… apologize. Not for taking _my_ jewels from me and not even for what you did to that echidna and the fox boy. I want you to apologize for what you did to _me_. I had never felt so embarrassed in all my life… whimpering like a little dog and forced to run away knowing I had my tail handed to me and there was nothing I could do to change it!"

"Shall I just get along with it or is there more guilt to pile on?" Bandit abruptly snapped.

"That's all." Rouge placed her hands on her hips, "Oh, and I want you to mean it. Nothing through your teeth or with your fingers crossed."

She expected Bandit to scowl at these demands, but he rather looked submissive, as if he really felt he deserved not only to be forced to apologize to her, but the humiliation he was being served by being told just how to apologize. He exhaled and walked over to Rouge. Rouge didn't know what to expect, so she was surprised when Bandit kneeled, and onto the leg he tried to keep his weight off of, for that matter.

"All right… listen up." He looked up at Rouge with those same docile eyes, except now they carried an ulterior message that struck forward with conviction; a message that said what he was going to say next was an absolute truth. "I had a mission to do in that vault. The details of which I think I can never give under the current circumstances. As part of that, I had to 'deal with' anything that came into my way. Unfortunately, you fit under that." Rouge was so caught up in this display that she did not notice when he took her hand in preparation for the moment she waited for, "Rouge, I am truly, deeply sorry for how I treated you in that vault. I was selfish and relished in the act of inflicting pain. If I had known what a truly honor-bound and respectable person you were at the time, I would have taken drastically different measures."

Rouge felt a sense of déjà vu, except that she felt on the wrong side of the moment. Her subconscious helped her with her feeling, as it dug up the memory of days ago when she had been in conversation with Sonic and had kissed him to see his reaction. That blue palooka could only muster a few syllables of mouth noises. Rouge was Sonic now, except she wasn't stuttering like an idiot. She was caught off-guard by the sincerity of the apology plus the fact that it was Bandit being so sincere. It took all her mind's power to snap back into reality.

"Apology accepted!" Rouge declared with a wavering voice. She then moved her hand from Bandit's grasp, albeit weakly. "Barely."

Bandit looked down as if an anticlimax had just occurred. He leaned against the wall and picked himself up with putting as little weight as he could on that one leg. "Okay… will you help me out now? This flare's fuse is no longer than a grain of sand."

"My word's my word." The agent muttered, trying to keep that waver out of her voice. Once her nerves were set, cold as default, she turned back to look at Bandit. "You might as well put it out. Though I'd like to see your burn yourself, I doubt you would."

Another sigh, this one a mix of relief and a little of mortifying humiliation emanated. Rouge saw the light behind her give way to the darkness of the underworld again.

Rouge felt a piece of string brush her gloved hand. "Take it." Bandit's voice came from behind, "That way I'll be able to follow you without having to touch you again."

Back to his old charming self, Rouge thought, and took the string, giving a little tug to make sure Bandit was holding on to the other end. He was. "Okay," She said, "Let's just do this as fast as possible."

-

A rather nondescript process of echolocation and navigating tunnels followed the awkward apology. Rouge moved along, not trying to think about the raccoon on the other end of the string. She just couldn't believe that Bandit was capable of being so sensitive. If that was just an act, it was the best the world has ever known. If it really was sincerity, however, just what would that say about Bandit's true personality, if in the case this current one was the real act? Just what would make a sensitive raccoon like him turn to a life of evil and causing trouble?

Another sense of déjà vu came over Rouge when she saw what was up ahead. Another corner to turn, and another source of light. This one seemed to be stronger, as if it came from a source that was supposed to be there and has been for quite some time. She walked faster, and tugged on the string so Bandit would so do as well. She ceased the echolocation and went into a jog. Eventually, she reached the source of the light. It was being supplied by lamps on both walls. What were lamps doing there?

Bandit, who hadn't noticed Rouge had stopped to look at the lamps, jogged right into the light without being prepared for it and got the full force of the illumination. "Ah!" He yelped and kept running, but with his arms over his eyes. He then demonstrated that they were both on a high platform by running over to and careening off the side of it. The edge crumbled and Bandit gave another yelp as he tumbled down a gentle slope. He hit the ground directly on the top of his head and fell over onto his side.

Rouge followed him down, sliding down the slope rather than play slinky on it as Bandit had. "Are you okay?" She asked on instinct.

The fallen raccoon scowled and slowly turned to a position so he was trying to get up, but could only muster kneeling. He hissed as his singular leg buckled under normally light pressure. He then looked to Rouge, "It must elate you to see me like this…"

He caught himself with his hand, and then worked to the wall. Sure, he was a jerk among jerks, but he also was a great and powerful force who deserved his high standing in Rouge's perspective. "Maybe normally, but I think I'll take the high road for now." Seeing a person of such earned respect wallow around like a dog missing both right legs struck even a chord in her… not to mention her more newfound respect for his personality.

"Right…" Bandit muttered and regained as good a balance as he could. He stood looking at Rouge for any sign that she really did take humor in his situation until his ear twitched. He looked behind.

"What is it?" Rouge asked, knowing he wasn't messing around.

Bandit faced Rouge again and pointed down the tunnel, "That way. I think somebody needs help."

"Who needs more help than us…?" Rouge asked herself silently and followed Bandit to the source of the sound. No echolocation was needed because these lamps were now mounted on the walls so periodically it illuminated the whole tunnel. Eventually, Rouge got her answer.

A large boulder sat in front of them, but the sounds of distress came from under it. Trapped under the boulder was a girl not unlike an echidna. Her muzzle was still exceptionally pointed, and her fur was all brown except for her flesh-colored stomach, limbs, muzzle, and eyelids. Additional fur on her head acting as "hair" was in the fashion of long hair, but not so much past muzzle-level. All description aside, her current situation was one of peril, for the boulder seemed to strike her right on her back. She was on her stomach and crying for help.

"Whoa!" Bandit couldn't help but gasp, "Where did _that_ come from?"

"Above!" The mole girl shouted in response, "There was a rumbling and shortly this boulder broke through the tunnel ceiling _and now I need help_!"

Rouge and Bandit exchanged guilty looks. They both had a good idea where the rumbling could have come from. "What do we do?" The bat of the two asked.

"You, stand back." Bandit took out the pink Chaos Emerald. "I'm going to use the power of this Emerald to bust that overgrown dirt clod."

Though she was against him using the Emerald, the situation called for it and the cause was actually in somebody else's interest. "Go ahead." Rouge told him.

Bandit stood in a ready position. He then held out the Chaos Emerald toward the boulder. "_Chaos Mirage_!"

A brown blur raced toward the boulder. Rouge, Bandit, and the girl could all feel the boulder splitting into pieces… at least until Bandit stumbled. His leg acted up, causing him to falter. He shouted in a pain long forgotten and flat-out tripped, flying forward in mid-air. The Chaos Emerald, however, kept its current speed and was redirected by Bandit's falter. It sailed forward, and then seemed to have a spasm of energy after being disconnected from Bandit. It vanished without a trace, probably relocated nearby.

Bandit's misdirection was much humbler. He was hurled forward by his momentum and seemed to dive right forward. His shout of pain became a very long "Whoa…!" as he seemed to hover in slow motion. Eventually gravity caught up to him and he began to descend. Time also caught up to him and caused him to smash the ground on his chin. Physics continued the insult by continuing the momentum, having Bandit skid across the ground until he finally came to a halt, his nose pressed against the mole girl's.

"Ow." The raccoon groaned.

The mole girl couldn't help but to break a sweat at that display, "That was… kind of lame."

Bandit's eyes popped open and he hopped up, standing over the mole girl. "I was trying to help you!" He cried with a little squeak in his voice that accompanied his red face nicely.

"I know, I know!" The mole girl yelped quickly, "But still…"

"Bandit!" Rouge barked from behind, "First off, that _was_ lame. Second, you _lost_ the Chaos Emerald! Now we're trapped down here for _no reason_!"

It was a lemon wedge right onto the wound for sure. Bandit was sore something fierce. The way he scowled at her, Rouge may just as well have called Bandit useless in every way possible. Did he hate having no good relevance to the world or something?

"Hey…" a voice cut into the silence. Both the bat and the raccoon looked over at the mole girl, "I don't really mean to sound ungrateful, because it really does mean a lot to me that I have your attention, but _speaking about being trapped in places…!_"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Bandit transitioned from his bad mood back to trying to help out. He turned to Rouge, "So… any ideas?"

The tone he put on disturbed Rouge. All the time he looks and sounds so empowered and independent and now it seemed like he hated having to ask for help merely because he absolutely has to. It really revealed a vulnerable side to him. To mask her inner thoughts on this, Rouge looked around as if she were actually trying to think up an idea. By pure accident, her gaze landed upon an idea.

"Is that a steel beam?" She asked of an object on the ground.

Bandit looked over, "I think so… where did _that_ come from?"

"It felt with the boulder!" The mole girl called from underneath.

Rouge looked from the girl who just spoke, to the beam, to the boulder, then back to the beam. "I have an idea."

Her idea was simple: Wedge the steel beam underneath the boulder. Rouge will use her trademarked drill drive to provide a push that will lift the boulder. With that leverage, Bandit will then knock the boulder off its balance and hopefully enough to roll off the mole girl.

"It won't work." Bandit immediately said, "I'm not strong enough to move that thing."

Rouge's eyes popped open, at first with worry, but then her eyes curved with anger. "Okay, just STOP IT!" Bandit reeled back, and just like a boxer follows through after the first punch opens for a chain, Rouge stepped forward and kept talking, "You lose your Emerald, you lose your cohort, your leg is all but busted and suddenly you can't do _anything_? Come ON! I may not like how you normally act, but I hate this new you even more! Excuse me, but this is way too out-of-character for you!" She stopped for two seconds to catch her breath. Her ears and wings drooped for that period. Bandit began to relax from his tense position, so her ears and wings shot right back up and so did her voice, "NOW!" Bandit tensed up again, "I refuse to believe you are any less strong in your arms because your feet are! You are going to push that boulder, and because I'm helping you out, you will tip that pebble like a beach ball!"

A silence ensued. Everybody kept their positions except for the mole girl, who drummed her fingers on the dirt floor. Obviously, these two had some issues they had to work out, either with each other or with themselves. Despite the fact her spine was probably slowly flattening, she had to be patient, because she felt that a breakthrough had just been reached.

Bandit finally returned to a normal standing stance, "Okay… I'll try."

"Better!" Rouge snapped, and then ran to a wall. She was halfway up when Bandit remembered it was his job to wedge the beam under the boulder. He grabbed the beam and walked slowly over to be easy on his leg.

He jammed the beam under boulder, avoiding jamming it into the mole girl's face. He looked over to her, "So… is there a race of mole furries living underground?"

She seemed to pause at the term "furries," but then recognized the mole part, "Yeah."

"That would explain why there are tunnels here."

"Ready?" Rouge called, on the top of the wall.

"Ready!" Bandit called back.

Without another word, Rouge leapt off her high climb and spread her wings. Using the precision of an agent, she calculated when she was over the beam and dropped her wings. She then shaped her form for her drill drive technique and dove down feet-first while spinning. She landed on the beam head-on and pressed against it with all her might. There was a lot of creaking and groaning coming from the beam and boulder.

"It's lifting!" The mole girl called.

That was the cue for Bandit to move into action. Feeling like a sports car charging a tank, he rushed forward, trying to keep his hurt let from getting too much weight. As he approached the boulder, he caught Rouge's gaze. He could feel an emerald jolt of lighting emanate from Rouge's eyes to his amethyst. Suddenly, he could do this. He was now the tank.

This brief rush made him lose track of his running. His good leg pounded the ground, and then his other leg pounded the ground just as hard. A different jolt rushed to Bandit, but this was of malicious pain. He bore his teeth, grunted heavily, and blinked the tears of pain of his eyes. Tanks don't stop due to hurt legs. He released the leg from the tension and pounded with the other one as if nothing had happened. With that final step, he heaved himself forward. He rammed the boulder with his shoulder.

At first, it felt like nothing happened, but it was a very brief moment. The boulder moved slightly. Bandit could feel victory at hand, so he pushed harder. He jammed his shoulder until he thought it would sink in. It didn't, and the boulder kept on moving. After what felt like hours, the boulder had rolled a full a complete revolution and stopped. All at once, Rouge relaxed, Bandit relaxed, and the mole girl let out a sigh of relief.

"What… do you know…" Bandit muttered between gasping breaths, "I did it…"

Rouge couldn't help but smile at that sentiment, and couldn't help it even more to give a thumbs-up in a purely Sonic-like fashion.

-

Displaying surprising resilience, the mole girl was able to all but just shrug off all that time she had spent under the boulder. In fact, she offered to show the other two where she lived not too long after. She explained as they walked.

"This type of thing happens often when we wander the tunnels," She explained, "It's just very rare that a _large boulder_ would rain down and not just some dirt or rocks. My name is Germaine, by the way."

Bandit nodded in comprehension, "Nice to meet you. I am Bandit and this…"

"Rouge." The bat cut in. Suddenly, he was on top of the world and commanding their little operation? That crazy 'coon needed a lesson in gratitude.

"Bandit and Rouge." Germaine repeated, "Thank you both so much for helping out… the rest of the moles will be surprised to hear about this!"

"About what, the rescue?" Bandit inquired.

As if she had just spoken an inside joke, Germaine made a surprised face, "Well… yeah. Kind of." She paused under scrutinizing looks, then broke, "Okay, okay! My people as a whole are very paranoid. We're descendants of the echidnas of the ancient days. In today's world, there aren't too many echidnas around and now moles are the more numerous of races between the two. Now we hold up the torch of protecting the powers of Chaos from falling into the wrong hands. The fate of our ancestors has left us, as I said, paranoid about our own fate."

Rouge looked at a wall and noticed their surroundings were less primitive and more chiseled. The walls looked at hard as stone and had smooth edges. There were carvings on the wall. She returned to Germaine's exposition and narrowed her eyes, "You're people are going to be surprised that a bunch of surface-dwellers showed compassion and helped you out?"

"I'm sorry to say, but yes." Germaine gave a sigh, "Me, I think the paranoia got old very quick. How can we judge everybody without meeting any of them? I'm really glad I met you two."

Bandit smiled with irony, "That's nice of you to say." Rouge felt that irony. Neither of them could break Germaine's heart and reveal any of their true personalities.

"Guys," Germaine continued abruptly, "I've got to go ahead. The gates to my town are coming up and if they see you with me, they might not take to it kindly."

"No problem." Bandit gestured to illustrate. He would have added how he doesn't deserve to be taken kindly, but decided against it.

Germaine ran off and the other two stopped walking to wait for her return. After a moment of waiting, Rouge took the opportunity to inquire something of Bandit.

"Bandit," She asked softly, "before, when we were helping Germaine out, you asked if she was in a race of mole furries…"

Bandit waited for a point, "Yeah…?"

"You used the term 'furries,'" Rouge got to the point, "a term that never really was popular amongst our kind."

"I can't say that word, now?" Bandit asked, giving a scrutinizing look.

The bat gestured her arms into an X, "No, no! I just never expected somebody to use it so freely!"

"Oh." Bandit scratched the side of his head, "Well, I didn't get that memo. Hey, I think Germaine's coming back."

Bandit walked forward to meet Germaine who was approaching them. She watched him go. Had she grazed upon a topic that affected Bandit personally? After contemplating for a few seconds, Rouge followed apprehensively.

-

The gatekeepers to the town weren't as cold as Germaine had warned. After all, the apathy they displayed could always be attributed to the fact that they were gatekeepers. Past the gates, a large expanse lay in front of them. Germaine watched their reactions to the sprawling settlement in front of them. Needless to say, it was much larger than any of them had expected. It sprawled for a wide radius and boasted traits of both an ancient civilization _and_ a modern town. The mole people appear to be adjusting to the newer generations, but never seemed to forget their roots.

The reception from the townspeople must have been what Germaine had been worried about. Amidst a sea of moles, a bat and a raccoon stood out like two sore thumbs on the same hand. Rouge felt massively uncomfortable, for she had let herself out in the open amongst humans only after they had been accepted. Thus, she never got used to people staring. Bandit didn't seem to mind, however. It appeared he completely didn't care what other people thought. Despite, the both of them followed Germaine stiffly, for she had an intended destination for the start of the tour.

"We're here!" Germaine called out at last. She indicated a rather tall hut-like building. After coming within radius, she immediately sprung forward, cupped her hands over her mouth, and called out, "Father, I'm back! I have company!"

An adult male mole emerged from the hut. He stood tall in comparison to the rest. Unlike the rest of the town, he was completely polarized, looking completely like an old civilization chieftain with florid clothing and face paintings. Unlike the stereotypical chief, he was a man of a strong and full frame, looking like he could hold his own against any opponent, but not too much as to look ridiculous. He stopped outside the passage to the hut, looked surprised, and then relaxed his demeanor.

"It thought as much that it was only a matter of time that you'd bring some surface-dwellers into our town. Wait… did you go all the way to the surface…?"

"They saved me!" Germaine said to answer the question and begin the explanation, "I was trapped under a boulder, much bigger than anything else that caves, in, and these two, Bandit and Rouge, had been down here due to unfortunate circumstances and they were kind enough to help me out!"

"Really?" Germaine's father looked to Rouge and Bandit, "I owe you a debt of gratitude, then. My Germaine means a lot to me. I am Gran, the chief of the tribe of moles that resides in this town. Feel free to make yourselves comfortable here."

Bandit nodded and showed off an unusually diplomatic side, "You're very kind… but we can't stay _too_ long. We have people waiting for us back on the surface. I hope you can understand."

"Of course." Gran mirrored the sentiment, "At least spend some time to recover from whatever thrust you into the earth's belly. Then you can be on your way."

-

The town really was reminiscent of an ancient village. To look at it from a high point would make it seem a little metropolitan, but to actually traverse the streets saw a much more rural setting. Everybody was out and about socializing with each other and even a group of mole children ran past kicking a ball. Everything was nice, but Rouge couldn't help but to just reflect on everything she had seen Bandit do. He looked around content, as if enjoying a break from his mission and constant clashing with Team Unity.

"Bandit…" She finally spoke up, "Ever since we fell through the ground, I have seen a side to you that I never remotely thought could have ever existed. You've _genuinely_ apologized to me, you jumped to the occasion to help somebody in need, and just now you were so civil with Gran. It's like you're not the same raccoon!"

That different raccoon seemed to make to answer immediately, but he stopped himself and hung his head in thought. He eventually settled on a grouping of words and spoke. "It's as I said before… Had we met under different circumstances, I am positive we would have gotten along much better… maybe more than just getting along."

"Even…" Rouge echoed, feeling her face redden at the idea, "… more?"

"Yeah." Another pause transitioned into his next thought, "However… since things are the way they are, our standings on the surface still haven't changed. Once we return, it'll be business as usual, you must understand."

He said it so calmly and matter-of-factly, as if nothing had happened between them. Rouge just couldn't believe it. "'Business as usual?' Has nothing that has happened meant anything to you? Were you just _acting_ this entire time? If nothing down here matters, then why try anything? I don't know about you, o raccoon of the metallic heart, but there's just no more reason to be down here if that's your attitude. Where's Germaine?" The agent stormed off.

Bandit stood in place, stunned. Do all women go from zero to dramatic in three seconds flat? Did Rouge just not know how to live for the moment? Perhaps hanging around with Team Unity has warped her personality _too_ much. All these disgruntled thoughts bunched up in Bandit's head, but then suddenly melted away. Something in his mind, _some_thing, just wouldn't let him sit idly by and leave Rouge like that. He followed Rouge's exit.

"Wait up! Maybe we can talk about this!" He called forward. He saw a flash of white enter a cave-like opening. Considering the majority race in the town, that only could have been Rouge. He followed through, entering the opening as well. He jogged in for quite a while and saw Rouge looking ahead, as if in awe. Once he caught up, he found himself staring in the same direction.

"No _way_!" Rouge gasped. An emerald glow reflected off that of her eyes. Sparkling in radiance like the embodiment of desire itself, the Master Emerald sat on a high altar. "Is this Knuckles's new hiding place for his massive jewel?" Bandit, who one would expect to be elated, instead seemed to behold the Master Emerald like a nemesis arriving at an inopportune time. Rouge continued to talk, "If so… well… nuts. I promised that knucklehead I wouldn't swipe it until he got better." She sighed, "C'est la ve."

"That isn't what _I'm_ looking at." Bandit muttered after redirecting his face. His gaze shifted off to the left a little. Rouge followed the gaze and felt her jaw drop anew.

"I repeat… _No way_!" There, next to the Master Emerald, was the pink Chaos Emerald, the very reason all that had happened had happened. In seconds both Bandit and Rouge had leapt to it and laid gloved hands on it.

They both looked to each other with shock. So this was going to be how this ends? There wasn't going to be anything more to the story? The Chaos Emerald reappears and suddenly the mood and tone evaporate in the annals of their memory? They both paused, both trying to configure ways to keep this discovery from wrecking what they had built up since their fall.

"Aren't you decked out with enough pink jewels?" Bandit asked weakly.

Rouge's eyes narrowed, "What do you-?" Then they widened, and peered down, "How did you know about… _my_ jewel?"

Bandit's eyes seemed to trail in the same direction, "I got a look on the way down. Normally I wouldn't go out of my way to say something of this nature, but that jewel, that heart-shaped beauty you wear… I haven't seen anything like it. Perhaps if I had seen a glow and shine so pure and benevolent like that earlier in my life, I could have lived more happily with only a memory of it and have gone down a different path." He looked off as if what he just said was a massive understatement, "A _much_ different path."

That line seemed to have a meaning that stayed in context and seemed to spread out much farther than Rouge could have ever imagined. Whatever may have happened in Bandit's past cannot be changed, but he can write his own future, despite what has been pre-ordained by any outside force. "It's not really my place or my style to say so… but Bandit, it's not too late to change. Of course, the same can be said about me, but there's a certain hierarchy of things that are bad, and what you're doing is on a much higher level of bad that makes me look like a typical law-abiding citizen. You really must look into what you're doing and why, and consider just that why."

"Hum…" Bandit muttered without intent of conveying anything verbally. He didn't face away, but still moved his eyes anywhere that didn't behold a symbol of his current situation – The Chaos Emerald, the Master Emerald, Rouge – and seem to be in thought. Despite, he still did not let go of the Emerald nor loosen his grip.

"What are you guys doing?" Came Germaine's voice. Both bat and raccoon looked over and saw the mole standing in the entrance, her face in pure curiosity.

Bandit took advantage of the distraction causing Rouge to lax her grip on the Emerald and wrenched it from her grasp for the umpteenth time, "Germaine, do you remember we had this?"

Germaine looked at the Chaos Emerald, and then nodded, "Yeah, you lost it trying to free me from the boulder."

"Well, we both need it." Rouge quickly said. It was a lie whiter than her fur. In all truth, they both did need it, but for their own purposes. Germaine didn't really need to know that Bandit was involved in shady dealings and that she, Rouge, was a jewel thief.

"I don't know…" Germaine nervously ran a hand through the fur on her head, "My father went on about how it just appeared there earlier, near the Master Emerald. It, the Master Emerald, was entrusted to us by one of the final remnants of the echidna clan. No doubt my father wouldn't allow the Chaos Emerald to be stolen so soon after it arrived."

A reaction that had developed over the years emerged from Rouge, "We're not stealing it! We're taking it back. There's a lot happening on the surface and this Chaos Emerald is an integral part of it."

That seemed to strike a chord in Germaine. All this time, she had only heard about happenings that occurred in the outside world, and always wished she could be a part of them, which was only wishful thinking for a mole, and further the daughter of the chieftain. For the first time those events were almost knocking at her door and she felt an inclination to do something. "All right." She finally said, "I suppose I can feign ignorance. If anything, I can just hypothesize that the Chaos Emerald just disappeared again as suddenly as it had arrived."

"… Thanks." Bandit muttered. "Okay, we'll take this to the surface, and then… _deal_ with it."

"Yeah." Rouge's eyes drooped at the thought of having to _deal_ with Bandit again, "Deal with it." That was a phrase that took many meanings and contexts at the time.

-

Rouge, Bandit, and Germaine, thought trying to act casual, still traversed the settlement as if their limbs were comprised of toothpicks. Germaine only had to courage to try and greet moles as they passed by. The openings that lead into the tunnels that lead to the surface were in sight, dutifully guarded. It was like a dream in which you run towards something, but never seemed to get any closer. The only difference was that they were getting closer, but it just seemed so unreal.

"_Attention!_" A loud voice that could be recognized at Gran's boomed. Every mole turned toward the center of the settlement and the exit was blocked off.

"Oh, no…" Germain groaned, "Father's using the surface-borne speakers… and he only uses it in the most important of circumstances. All exits are blocked off so all inside are forced to hear the announcement."

Bandit made another scowl at the guards holding their spears over the exit, "This certainly does not bode well."

"I have recently visited the Master Emerald," Gran declared, "for I felt an imbalance in the power of Chaos. When I arrived, I found our newest Emerald, the Pink of Chaos, to be missing!" Rouge's instincts kicked in, causing her to grab Bandit and Germaine and duck into a space between two houses. "Do not fret with mystery, for the Master Emerald has laid witness to what had happened, and it was thievery! Thievery by lifelong thieves in our midst!"

"'Livelong thieves?'" Germaine echoed in whisper, "That can't be right. I mean, overreacting to think it thievery most foul is understandable, but if he's talking about you, he can't be…" She looked over to Rouge and Bandit, who desperately tried to avoid her eyes. The mole gasped, "You… you two are _thieves_?"

"It's not what you think!" Rouge hissed immediately, "Yes, we have taken things that aren't ours, maybe more often than we're willing to admit, but that has nothing to do with what is happening here! This Chaos Emerald needs to be taken out of here or people who are much worse than us will come in and spare no expense or lives in collecting it!"

Bandit hadn't thought about that. He'd be inclined to tell Talon and Ayla about the location of the Chaos Emerald, had it stayed underground. Then what? No doubt the other two would not try to take the Emerald peacefully. Rouge's bias against Team Evolution had actually supplied a good reason that Germaine could relate to.

Germaine narrowed her eyes, thought, then sighed, "All right, fine. I'll trust you. But I'm holding you guys to it."

"You're a real friend, Germaine." Bandit smiled.

"_There!_" A mole shouted, pointing directly at the threesome, "They have the chieftain's daughter hostage, too!"

"Hostage?" Germaine demanded, and then realized that things got a whole lot worse. "Guys… run! The south side of town is never guarded or guarded poorly; it's that way, go!"

"Right" Rouge and Bandit chirped, and then dashed off.

"They told you to defend them in exchange for their life, didn't they?" One of the moles in the mob demanded of Germaine, "Scoundrels! Don't worry, Miss Germaine, we'll bring them to justice!"

The mob ran off after Rouge and Bandit. Germaine watched them go and stood still. In all truth, she really did believe Rouge and Bandit, and that the Chaos Emerald was better off in their hands, and if they got caught and righteously punished, she'd feel like it would be her fault. She firmed her stance in determination, "I have to do something." She then ran in a different direction, a seldom-used shortcut.

-

From a birds-eye view, the mole settlement seemed like a nice hamlet. When running for one's life through the corridors, it was an absolute maze.

"Are you sure we're going the right way?" Rouge called over the sounds of rioting moles.

"Germaine said this way and so far we've been going relatively straight!" Bandit shouted back, and then stalled his speech, "Hey! I see the exit! Just like she said, there's almost nobody there!"

"Perf- agh!" Rouge's celebration was cut short when a line of spear-toting townspeople blocked their route. Thinking fast, both she and Bandit pulled into a house.

Bandit jammed a broom into the doorknob and backed up as the door began pounding. "This won't last us long."

The agent, whose mind was made to think on a dime, eyed some stairs. "No need! I have a plan!"

They ran up the stairs to a roof access and burst from that door. There they stood on the roof of the house looking down at the mob trying to bust the front door down. In the distance, the tunnels that eventually lead to freedom rested, just out of reach.

"I could make it if I flew over the masses. I can't give you a lift for long…"

"No need." The raccoon cut into the monologue. He pushed down on a chest button on the previously ignored device that he now wore on his back. Immediately, a pair of hang-glider wings sprouted from the pack.

"Whoa!" Rouge gasped, "How fun! Where did you get that?"

Bandit seemed not ready to answer that, and just looked at the wings. "Let's just say that the, uh, GUN has been very, say, _profitable_ for me."

Rouge scoffed, "Well, I guess you really are quite the pickpocket!"

"If you insist." Bandit looked down at the door seemed to be hanging by toothpicks. "No time to admire my majesty now, we've got to fly! Literally."

Voices and footfalls were heard coming up to the roof access, so Rouge and Bandit wasted no time in leaping off the roof and beginning their slow descent towards their only means of escape. They took some silly joy in watching the group of moles crane their necks upward and look in awe at the flying bat and raccoon go right over their heads.

As soon as they were a good distance, Rouge unfolded her wings and made a perfect landing on one foot. Bandit, however, had done the exact same thing, but landed on his previously hurt leg. "OW!" He howled and fell forward.

"Oh yeah…" Rouge commented, "Your leg."

"Thought it was all healed up. Slag."

Rouge forced his arm around her shoulder, "Well we're almost out of here! Come-!"

Unfortunately, a disc made of stone rolled seemingly out of the wall, blocking the exit.

"Slag." Bandit repeated.

"Aha!" Came the authority voice from Gran. Rouge swiveled around and Bandit forced himself off her to look stronger in front of the group of mole guards behind their chieftain. "We thought you'd try to take that exit, so we took the liberty to set up that anti-escape plan. Crude and Neanderthal, yes, but still effective enough to fool you. Now, hand over the pink Chaos Emerald and leniency will be shown!"

"No!" Rouge burst back, "Too much rests on the ownership of this Emerald!"

Gran shook his head, "Yes, yes, the same woven tale you tricked my daughter with. Tell it running. Since you don't want to give up the Emerald peacefully… I have no choice."

"Looks like we'll have to fight our way out." Rouge interjected.

Bandit looked to the bat, "We can't...! They may want our heads, but they're still Germaine's people. Besides, even I know we'll have our tails handed to us…"

"_STOP!_" a shrill voice cried from behind the lines of guards. Uproar was heard from behind, and enough guards were tossed out of the way to see that Germaine was working her way through the guards, knocking them down with expert fighting skill.

Rouge raised an eyebrow, "I didn't know she could do that."

Germaine worked her way past the guards and past her father to turn around, face the army, and hold her arms out. "You have to stop this father! I was not fooled by them! I know that they have bad pasts, but they are doing good now!"

Rouge rolled her eyes at Bandit.

"Stand down, Germiane!" Gran demanded, "This is foolishness!

"I… I have nothing to support this! In fact, I don't even know the details of what they plan to do with the Chaos Emerald! The fact remains is that I get a good feeling… from both of them! Please, Father, you just can't resolve this by the means that make you look the strongest! You could end up causing a lot more pain and suffering! Doesn't who I am mean anything to you?"

The chieftan bore his teeth and narrowed his eyes, "Of course it does! Sometimes I consider you higher in priority than our heritage as keepers of the Chaos from the echidna clan. But because I know I'm right, I'll have not problems in making an exception! If you continue to stand in my way, I'll be forced to have you suffer the same fate as those you are protecting."

Germaine remained silent and with her arms held out. Her face bore a look of worry, but held an undertone of determination, showing fully that she intended to guard Rouge and Bandit to the end.

"So be it…" Gran muttered. He looked to his guards behind him, to the pair that his daughter protected, to his daughter, and imagined the Master Emerald, whose honor he was protecting. Suddenly, all those images came together in a grand revelation. Gran gasped with utter shock and only uttered, "_Pahachamac's mistake…_"

Germaine looked at her father anew, "What… what did you say?"

"Pahachamac's mistake…" Her father repeated, "This situation… it reminds me of one of the oldest and most infamous tales from the time of the echidnas." All those who were around seemed to relax. Gran sighed, "Pahachamac was the leader of his tribe. One day during great conflict, he wished to use the power of the Chaos Emeralds to assist his forces. His daughter, Tikal, was against this and tried with all her might to prevent her father's error. Pahachamac was fool-hardy enough to order his daughter's demise, and it awoke the power of Chaos in a rage. It caused massive devastation amongst the echidnas and irreversible mistrust between the sentience of the power of Chaos and all of us who populate this planet."

All the moles in the room seemed to make equally startling revelations about their positions.

"Well," Gran muttered, "I won't let history repeat."

"Father?" Germaine whispered.

"Stand down." The chieftain ordered his guards. They had already beaten him to it, though. "Germaine, I have never seen you so adamant about anything in your life. If you believe in those two, I will not repeat Pahachamac's mistake. Your friends are… free to go."

Germaine's eyes welled up and she ran to her father, throwing her arms around him. "Oh, father! I never thought you would ever think me above our heritage!"

"What?" Her father responded, "You have always been the greatest legacy I have known in any generation. If I ever gave you the impression I have ever considered you less than anything else, then I am sorry."

"Isn't that touching?" Rouge cooed.

Bandit nodded, "Guess he really isn't such a duty-bound still after all."

-

"Goodbye!" Germaine called to Rouge and Bandit as they walked up a slop leading to the surface, "… And thank you!"

"Maybe we'll see you again!" Rouge called back. She noticed Bandit had already begun to leave and followed.

It was a short walk, and finally there was a ladder that held a short climb to the surface. As Bandit moved to grab the ladder, Rouge grabbed his shoulder. "Bandit, wait!"

"Yeah?" The raccoon asked, letting go of the ladder.

Rouge exhaled, and then looked into Bandit's eyes, "When we return to the surface, we will lose this. This common ground, these pleasantries. I don't want it to just be a memory, Bandit. I need something to show that this was not just a figment of my imagination, that this is a side of you that exists away from what you're trying to be. Bandit, please…"

It was a lot to ask of him. He also knew that things would never be like this again. He had to do the most charitable thing he could think of. Every fiber of his being screamed against it, but he had to do it. He took the pink Chaos Emerald out of a pocket that his glider pack had. He then tossed the Emerald to Rouge.

"What…?" Rouge couldn't believe her emerald eyes.

"Don't think too much of it." Bandit said quickly, "Talon, Ayla and I _will_ get it back. In the meantime… just enjoy what your current ownership means."

"Bandit…" Rouge whispered, clutching the pink jewel to the one around her neck. As Bandit began to climb the ladder, something else came to mind. "Bandit, _wait_! If it isn't too much trouble, can you tell me how those you put in comas can be brought back?"

Bandit kept climbing, but his words were clear as crystal. "Simple! Find somebody with a Chaos Ability that heals!"

Rouge relished in finally having the answer, but it was short-lived. "What? Chaos Ability? What's that? … Bandit? Bandit! … … BANDIT!"

It was too late. Bandit was gone in more ways than one.

Rouge somberly climbed the ladder to the surface. The sun hurt her eyes, but she adjusted quickly. She did not stand up, but merely sat on the lip of the hole, reflecting on that whole episode she had encountered. She looked at the Pink Chaos Emerald and clutched it tightly. She knew that this good side to Bandit was prevalent. Whatever mission he was on with Team Evolution was what kept him from showing it. When she and Team Unity put and end to Team Evolution's ambitions, maybe that good Bandit will return.

Some day.

She looked off to see silhouettes blocking the setting sun. "ROUGE!" a combination of two voices called out. Sonic was next to her first.

"Rouge!" Sonic gasped, "We thought we had lost you! You've been gone for a while!"

Vector finally caught up, "Yeah… we… hold on a second… okay, we were running around all day looking to see if you escaped from the underground! Oddly enough, we were following the Emerald tracker!"

"Maybe…" Rouge flashed a smug smile and reached behind, "You found me because you were tracking _this_!"

The glow of the pink Chaos Emerald shone off of both Sonic's and Vector's faces.

"WHOA!" Vector blurted.

"You got the Emerald!" Sonic declared, placing his hands firmly on Rouge's shoulders, "That's fantastic!"

At that moment, Sonic realized just what he did. He quickly removed his hands from Rouge. The bat emitted a small soft laugh as the three of them began walking off into the sunset, "Yep, got it from the 'coon himself. He practically _gave_ it to me."

"That's showing them!" Vector gestured, "Well Sonic, looks like I owe you a chili dog. Today _was_ our lucky day after all!"

"Don't you know it!" Sonic gave a thumbs-up, "Though I think that chili dog goes to Rouge!"

"Uhh," Rouge gently grazed her face, "I think I'll pass on that. A filet min-yon, well done, however… and you've got yourself a deal."

Sonic laughed, "No prob! You heard her, Vector!"

"WHAT?" Vector yelped, "You think I've got the rings for something so fancy-sounding? I got _evicted_ from my home!"

"So what?" Sonic swept his arm, "Just run through the city a bunch of times! They're all over the place!"

Vector growled, "I'm not built for endeavors like that and you know it!"

Rouge laughed at the juvenile arguing. Having friends _was_ rewarding.

Meanwhile, ominous figures loomed overhead.

"There they are." Shadow smirked, "They have another Emerald."

"Are you sure we should just do this?" Tikal asked meekly, "They seem so happy…"

"That will make it all the easier if they have their guards down! Right Chaos?" The ultimate life form looked to Chaos to see the liquid creature not moving. "Chaos!"

"Eh?" Chaos looked to Shadow, "Hum, I must go with Tikal. For a completely unrelated reason, I feel overjoyed. I would rather avoid conflict for now. Besides, we have no need for such a detour. Our primary objective is what we should pursue. We should continue onward."

Chaos stood up and began walking away. Shadow lifted his nose at both his team mates, then looked down at Team Unity walking off, "Savor this reprieve, Blue Hedgehog." He quickly followed Chaos.

Tikal also took a look at Team Unity, "Thank goodness. I just couldn't bring harm to others without a good reason. But why was Father filled with joy? The only thing that could make him happy would be repentance… or perhaps something very close to it…?" She thought on that, then gently beat her angelic wings to keep in pace with Shadow and Chaos.


End file.
